3 men posing as police officers rob man of ₹5 lakh in cash

MUMBAI: The Khar police have launched a hunt for three unidentified men who allegedly robbed a man of ₹5 lakh in cash outside an ATM by posing as police officers

MUMBAI: The Khar police have launched a hunt for three unidentified men who allegedly robbed a man of ₹5 lakh in cash outside an ATM by posing as police officers.

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The complainant, 37-year-old Tausif Anis Shaikh, was about to deposit the money he had collected from his cousin’s travel agency at an ATM in Khar on Sunday evening when he was intercepted by three men posing as police officers. They allegedly forced him to get into a car, saying they were taking him to the police station for questioning. They then took the cash, dropped him off midway and fled, the complainant said.

According to Shaikh, his cousin brothers Noor Hasan, 34, and Kadir Ahmed Hashmi, 35, own a travel agency in Saki Naka near the Mumbai airport, which also offers foreign exchange and money transfer services. On Saturday evening, Hasan gave Shaikh ₹5.70 lakh in cash to deposit in the agency’s two bank accounts. On Sunday evening, Shaikh deposited ₹70,000 at an ATM of one bank and was about to enter another ATM in Khar to deposit the rest when he was intercepted around 7.30 pm.

The three men then allegedly pushed Shaikh inside a car and checked the plastic bag he was carrying, which contained the cash. They then asked Shaikh where he got so much cash from. When he told them it was from the travel agency’s money transfer business, the men asked him to step out of the car, saying they had to round up two more suspects in a case and were in a hurry. They then allegedly drove away with the cash.

Shaikh then approached the Khar police, and based on his complaint, a case was registered against the three unidentified men under sections 204 (impersonation), 318 (4) (cheating), and 3(5) common intention) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita.

“We are scanning through CCTV footage of the spots involved in the episode based on the description given by Shaikh to identify the culprits,” said a police officer from Khar police station. “We will arrest them to find out how did they knew that Shaikh was carrying cash.”