The Diamond Harbour Police cracked down on a fraud racket and arrested six persons who impersonated central agency officers to dupe people and threaten and extort money from businessmen.The accused were produced before a court in Diamond Harbour on Tuesday and have been sent to police custody till September 3.The police received intelligence about the gang’s activities and registered a case at the Diamond Harbour police station on August 20. During the investigation, the police found that the accused had extorted money from at least 10 people.Fake identity cards, uniforms, forged documents, and other incriminating materials were seized from the accused.The accused, who operated under the banner of a fictitious entity — “SICI Crime India Association” — were arrested on charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy, and impersonation, Additional Superintendent of Police Mithun Kumar Dey said.According to preliminary investigation, the gang targeted victims posing as officials from agencies such as the CBI, ED, and CID, vigilance department and narcotics department, Dey said, adding, that the accused would threaten their victims with fictitious raids and legal action, extorting amounts ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000.Story continues below this adThe victims, believing them to be ‘genuine officials’, were coerced into parting with money to “settle” cases.“Once we began our probe, we approached those victims who had been duped. They admitted that they were approached by some people, who posed as CBI and other central agency officials — on the same lines as has been shown in the film ‘Special 26’ — and extorted money from them. We registered a case and arrested six people,” Dey said.“During our probe, we found their office in Dakshin Dinajpur. We are trying to probe if anyone was giving tacit support to the accused or they had connections with those who have been arrested for similar frauds in the past,” said Dey.“A few days ago, the mastermind of the racket, Falguni Chatterjee, had inaugurated an office in the premises of the Diamond Harbour civil court.Story continues below this adHe was also spotted coming in a car bearing a blue beacon and an emblem of the Government of India,” the Additional SP added.The other arrested have been identified as Shujauddin Sheikh, Gopal Barik, Sandeep Barman, Mostaqin Mollah, and Jamal Halder.Advocate Shayan Sachin Basu, appearing for Chatterjee, said his client has been falsely implicated in the case and he has no connection with the association carrying out the fraud.