Fake 'crime bureau' busted by Indian police

Indian police have arrested six men accused of posing as officers and extorting “donations” from a rented office posing as a “crime investigative bureau.”

According to a police statement issued late Sunday, the so-called “International Police and Crime Investigation Bureau” operated from an office in Noida, a satellite city of New Delhi, and was decorated with “police-like colours and logos.”

Investigators said the suspects forged documents and certificates, and ran a website through which they solicited “donations” from their targets.

They also claimed they had an "affiliation with Interpol" and other international crime units.

"The perpetrators presented themselves as public servants," the police said.

Police recovered several mobile phones, chequebooks, stamp seals and identity cards.

The arrests come just weeks after a man was arrested for allegedly running a fake embassy from a rented house near New Delhi and duping job seekers of money with promises of employment abroad.

The accused was operating an illegal "West Arctic embassy" and claimed to be the ambassador of fictional nations including "West Arctica, Saborga, Poulvia, Lodonia".

Harsh Vardhan Jain, 47, was operating in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, which neigbhours the capital, local police said.

He allegedly used vehicles with fake diplomatic plates and shared doctored photos of himself with Indian leaders to bolster his claims.

He is also accused of money laundering.