The city imposters who initially duped people posing as cops are now flaunting a new badge—that of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). The shift comes against the backdrop of recent widespread media coverage of high-profile drug cases. In a recent incident, TV actor Kruttika Desai was approached by some people posing as NCB officers, who accused her of drug consumption and demanded to search her car. She managed to escape, and approached the Dindoshi police the next day with a video clip of the three accused men, but no action has been taken yet, Desai told mid-day. 

The fear of getting caught with the drugs, considering the rigorous imprisonment under the NDPS Act, makes the targets more vulnerable to such extortion. After being cheated, the drug users don’t approach the police fearing being booked on the charges of consumption,” said a city police officer, who is supervising a case involving an imposter NCB cop.