Rajkot: A habitual offender was arrested by the city's A Division police for extorting Rs 40,000 from a 22-year-old accountant by impersonating a policeman and threatening police action for his visit to a hotel with a woman for paid sex.
The incident occurred on July 20, and the victim only filed an application for a complaint fearing societal shame. A formal FIR was lodged late on Thursday night after the police arrested the accused, Altaf Keradiya, who confessed to extortion.
Police claim to have nabbed Kheradiya from Ramnathpara area after analysing the CCTV footage and using human intelligence.
The accountant told police that he went to a hotel with a woman after she offered to have sex with him for Rs 1,500 on July 20. He left the hotel around 7pm and began driving towards Sorathiyawadi Circle when a man on a motorcycle intercepted his car and introduced himself as a policeman from the D-staff. The accused forced his way into the accountant's car and threatened a police case for his visit to the hotel. He demanded Rs 1.5 lakh to settle the matter privately, police said.
When the accountant expressed his inability to pay such a large sum, the accused forced him to withdraw Rs 20,000 from an ATM and transfer another Rs 20,000 via Google Pay.
Keradiya has a history of criminal cases with nine offences registered against him in Rajkot, Morbi, Bhavnagar, and other areas between 2015 and 2023. These cases include charges of assault, issuing death threats, attempted murder, and burglary.