ISLAMABAD: A man was taken into custody by the police on the charge of extorting money from an Afghan national in garb of an intelligence officer.

The alleged impersonator was caught by a group of Afghan nationals and handed over to the police.

The police said the arrested man had extorted money on the pretext of arranging a proof of an Afghan registration card. The suspect told the Afghan national that he was an officer of the Special Branch.

Ashiq Hussain, a pushcart vendor, told the police that a man approached him four days ago and introduced himself as an official of the Special Branch. The suspect asked the Afghan national to pay him Rs20,000 for the registration card.

The complainant told the police that he paid Rs15,000 to the suspect who later called him and asked for the remaining Rs5,000. Later, when the suspect came to the vendor again and demanded the amount, he got suspicious and caught him with the help of other Afghan nationals.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2017