A woman police inspector, who had earlier served in Ahmedabad, was arrested on Thursday for allegedly helping a gang in extorting money from at least five traders through a honey trap, officials said on Thursday.
The arrested inspector, Geeta Pathan, currently serves as a police inspector in Patan district of Gujarat, they said.
”Following a thorough investigation and the arrest of four members of the gang, the city crime branch arrested Pathan on Thursday,” an official release said.
She was earlier posted at Women’s Police Station (East) in Ahmedabad, the crime branch said.
When she was serving in the city earlier this year, Pathan had allegedly helped the gang in extorting Rs 26.55 lakh from at least five city-based traders.
Pathan allegedly took half the money from the gang and also gave some share to her junior staff for helping her in intimidating the victims and pressuring them into giving money to the gang members to settle the issue, the release said.
In February this year, one person submitted an application to the crime branch, alleging that a gang, having some women members, trapped him through fake Facebook ID and extorted money by threatening to book him in a false rape case.
Later, officials received four more similar applications.
In March, crime branch had arrested four persons, including two 19-year-old women, on charges of extortion and criminal conspiracy.
The gang members would first trap city based-traders using fake Facebook IDs of girls after which the female members would invite them to a hotel or a secluded place.
Later, the gang would submit an application against the victims at the woman police station headed by Pathan, it said.
On the pretext of recording their statements, Pathan would call the victims at police station and pressure them to ”settle” the matter with the applicants, the statement added.
Pathan and her staffers would threaten the victims saying they may get arrested in a rape case if they don’t arrive at a compromise formula with the applicant, the release said, adding that the crime branch is also investigating the involvement of other staffers of women police station.
