Two men in their mid-30s have been allegedly extorting motorists of traffic fines posing as police.
They were arrested on Tuesday.
After they stopped a resident of Duttabad in Salt Lake, the victim’s friends apparently chased the two down and handed them to the cops.
The two have been identified as Vikram Singh and Suraj Prasad Jha.
“The two have been arrested on the basis of a complaint of alleged snatching of a mobile phone and a bag containing some money posing as police officers on Tuesday night. We want to question the two to find out if they were responsible for a few other cases of alleged snatching that have taken place in and around Salt Lake in the past few months,” said a senior officer of Bidhannagar North police station.
On Tuesday, night Asim Ballav was returning from his office on a two-wheeler when the duo allegedly stopped him on Third Avenue near City Centre, the police said.
The two wanted to see the driving licence and other papers. They said they were officers from Bidhannagar police commissionerate who were on a special night raid.
After a brief conversation, they apparently told Ballav that there were several pending traffic violation cases against him and wanted him to pay.
When Ballav pulled out his mobile phone, the two allegedly snatched it from him and then took away a bag that he was carrying and fled the spot on the motorbike.
Ballav, who lives nearby, apparently started looking for the two along with a few friends.
The two accused were brought to Bidhannagar North police station for interrogation and search.
Ballav’s mobile phone and bag were found.
On Wednesday, a court in Bidhannagar remanded the two in police custody for five days.
Tribal stir disrupts train services
Many local trains were cancelled, delayed and diverted because of an agitation by a tribal rights organisation near Salboni in Paschim Medinipur over a host of demands on Wednesday.
The 18003 Howrah-Adra Shiromoni Express was among those cancelled, said a railway official.
The 12827 Howrah-Purulia Express was short-terminated at Kharagpur, said the railway official.