11 members of gang of heisters inspired by ‘Special 26’ arrested

Navi Mumbai: Eleven people of a fake ‘Enforcement Directorate’ team, who carried out a heist inspired by the Bollywood potboiler ‘Special 26’ by raiding the house of a retired Public Works Department (PWD) officer, have been arrested

Navi Mumbai: Eleven people of a fake ‘Enforcement Directorate’ team, who carried out a heist inspired by the Bollywood potboiler ‘Special 26’ by raiding the house of a retired Public Works Department (PWD) officer, have been arrested.

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Inspired by the movie, three friends had formed a fake ED team after a tip-off that the former officer had stacked cash of ₹80 crore in his house. They carried out a ‘raid’ to ‘seize’ the cash and made away with valuables worth ₹34.85 lakh, including cash and gold ornaments.

Rabale police arrested 11 accused, who were allegedly involved in the ‘ED team’, of which some claim that they were not aware that it was fake. They said they believed that they were supporting an official ‘raid’.

The accused were so confident that the complainant would not approach the police that they did not use any fake number plate on the four-wheeler they arrived in. The police used this to trace the first accused.

Among the 11 arrested, Deepak Suryakant Kavitkar, 47, a resident of Pune. is the main accused who had allegedly planned the crime along with his two other friends Rupesh Naik Mahesh, 42, from Goregaon, and Kishore Gangadhar Jadhav, 47, from Kalyan.

On the afternoon of July 21, around six men entered the residence of Kantilal Yadav, 60, who lives with his family at Airoli Sector-6, around 4 pm.

The retired officer, Yadav was at home with his wife, Aruna, 46, when the accused rang their doorbell and themselves as officers from the ED and entered their house.

The gang then took the mobile phones of Yadav and Aruna and made them sit on a sofa saying that they had come to search their house after receiving a complaint against him.

Yadav asked them to show their identity cards and they told him that they would show it once the raid was over. When the gang demanded for cupboard keys, the family declined, and the accused slapped Aruna and threatened to kill Yadav and their six-month-old daughter if she did not give the key.

Aruna handed over the key following which they made away with valuables worth ₹34.85 lakh, including cash and gold ornaments.

“Within 24 hours of the crime, the team had found the first lead and made the first arrest. The accused had got the idea of this modus from Special-26 movie. More accused are wanted in the case and the investigations are on,” said Vivek Pansare, deputy commissioner of police (Zone I).

With the help of the CCTV footage, the police found the registration number of one of the two four wheelers used. The accused had used Nexa Ciaz and Maruti Suzuki Baleno in the crime.

The cops first traced Ciaz and arrested Kavitkar. At the time of arrest, Kavitkar was in Belapur, along with another accused Naresh Rajpati Mishra, 52, a resident of Pune.

The police said they believe that Mishra, who was the ‘bodyguard’ of Kavitkar in the ‘raiding’ party, was made to believe that he was giving protection to an ED officer. The police have also seized a pistol that Kavitkar had given to Mishra as he was the ‘bodyguard’.

“The remaining arrests and seizes were made from various parts of Mumbai, Pune and Navi Mumbai. The accused are currently in police custody till August 2,” said Rajendra Kote, senior police inspector from Rabale police station.

“The three, Kavitkar, Mahesh and Jadhav, managed to form a team. Some of them claim that they were not aware that they were committing a crime. They were made to believe that they were part of an official raid by the ED and they will be paid 30% of the ‘seized’ amount,” said Bhaguji Auti, police inspector (crime) from Rabale police station.

“We are verifying all these claims. The seized pistol is also claimed to be licensed pistol of Kavitkar, which is being verified,” added Auti.

Initially, the case was registered only under the section of cheating. After a few days, the complainant claimed that he was also threatened, and his wife assaulted following which sections of dacoity were added. The accused have been arrested under sections 395 (dacoity), 506 (criminal intimidation), 170 (personating a public servant), 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.