3 men in police uniform harass, extort ₹30K from jeweller at Mumbai Central station

The complainant does not remember if the men who stopped him wore tags, he thought they were police since they wore khaki clothes

MUMBAI: A 37-year-old jeweller from Rajasthan was harassed, slapped, and verbally abused in front of his seven-year-old daughter before he was robbed of ₹30,000 by three suspected frauds in police uniform at Mumbai Central railway station.

3 men in police uniform harass, extort ₹30K from jeweller at Mumbai Central station

The incident occurred on August 10, and the Ratangard police in Rajasthan registered an FIR on Sunday. The case was then transferred to the Mumbai Central Government railway police (GRP) station for investigation.

The complainant, Kamal Kumar Soni, had arrived in Mumbai on August 1 with his daughter to attend a jewellery exhibition. He stayed at his sister’s house in the city and left on August 10. He had also brought with him a gold bar weighing 14 grams to make a sample piece for a jeweller. As this was not successful, he put it in his bag before his return journey. Soni, his daughter and his brother-in-law reached Mumbai Central station around 10.30 pm to board their train at 11 pm.

“As we reached platform number 5, a man in uniform stopped and demanded to check my bag. I agreed and gave my bag to one of the men sitting with two others on the iron bench meant for police personnel,” said Soni. When the man discovered the gold bar and ₹31,900, he began asking questions about it. “I told them that I had receipts to produce for them. However, for no apparent reason, he slapped me in front of my daughter and abused me. For about half an hour, they detained me in a dark room on the platform and threatened me with arrest,” said Soni.

Soni told the police that he did not protest as he did not want to miss his train and see his daughter traumatised. “They took all the money and returned ₹1,900. Later, I took the train and left,” he said.

After Soni wrote to the authorities, the Mumbai Central GRP booked three unidentified men under section 119 (1) (voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt to extort property or to constrain someone to do something illegal) of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita, 2023.

“The complainant does not remember if the men were wearing name tags and only said that they were in khaki uniforms,” said Hemraj Kumbhar, senior police inspector of Mumbai Central GRP. The case is being investigated by the Bandra unit of the GRP crime branch.