Former Home Guard held for extorting money from couples

CHENNAI: The city police on Saturday arrested a 29-year-old MBA graduate, who had earlier served as a Home Guard volunteer, for extorting money from men who bring their female friends to lodges in the city by posing as a policeman.

The arrested man was identified as Balaji. In a recent incident, he had extorted about Rs 92,000 in instalments from a man and allegedly spent the money in online gambling.

Balaji was living with a woman police constable and used her two-wheeler with ‘Police’ sticker on it, while approaching his targets to make them believe that he was a cop, investigations revealed. Last month, Balaji approached a man staying at a lodge in Arumbakkam and demanded money to avoid a police case.

The victim transferred Rs 15,000 through Gpay and then paid up to Rs 92,000 whenever Balaji demanded money, claiming he had to pay senior officers.

Eventually, the victim filed a complaint with Choolaimedu police, who arrested Balaji on Saturday. He was produced before a magistrate and remanded to judicial custody.