A man has been arrested for impersonating a policeman and extorting money from shopkeepers and people visiting a market in central Delhi’s Daryaganj, the police said on Friday.

Accused Gaurav Kumar (23) hails from Haryana. He was in the uniform of a Delhi Police ASI at the time of the arrest.

They said that a Head Constable, posted in Daryaganj police station, was patrolling on Ansari Road when he noticed a man in police uniform harassing people at the market. The Head Constable got suspicious after he spotted him wearing sports shoes. When he asked the man to stop, he started running. However, he was chased and caught. The PCR was informed and a police team reached the spot.

“The man was taken to the police station. He confessed that he used to extort money from people who visited the market by threatening them to implicate in false cases of drug smuggling,” said a police officer.