CHENNAI: A 40-year-old security guard who donned the role of a policeman during the weekends and roamed around in the city suburbs extorting money from shopkeepers was arrested by the Tambaram city police on Sunday.
The man, Murali (40) of Vengadu village near Sriperumbudur, was caught red-handed after a shopkeeper in Pammal grew suspicious and alerted the Sankar Nagar police. Sporting a Khaki uniform, Murali approached the shopkeeper and demanded money claiming that he had evidence that he was selling gutkha, a tobacco product banned in Tamil Nadu.
When a police patrol team reached the scene and demanded proof of identity, Murali attempted to wriggle himself out of the situation claiming that he was part of the special team probing narcotics cases and was not required to reveal his whereabouts to the local police.
When the police tried to take him to the station for further inquiry, he maintained the act as a cop, and resisted detention and refused to get into the police vehicle. He was eventually taken to the station, where he confessed to his crime. Officials said Murali worked at a factory as a security guard and indulged in his double life during the weekends.
He roamed around in a rented police uniform and in a two-wheeler with 'police' sticker, targeting shopkeepers in Pallavaram, Pammal, and Anakaputhur areas for money.
In shops where he was certain that the banned tobacco products were sold, he took additional money. The police said their probe revealed that he took Rs 15,000 from a shop in Pammal last week.
Murali was produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.