Aspiring actor arrested for posing as police officer, robbing bikes, mobiles

In a script straight out of a Bollywood thriller, the Waliv police have arrested a 32-year-old aspiring actor for posing as a police officer

MUMBAI: In a script straight out of a Bollywood thriller, the Waliv police have arrested a 32-year-old aspiring actor for posing as a police officer and orchestrating a series of crimes, including extortion, robbery and forgery.The police said that the accused, Faizul Hasan Shaikh, had observed and practised the mannerisms of police officers for auditions. However, when his Bollywood dreams failed to materialise, he gradually drifted towards a life of crime. He has been accused of extorting money from shopkeepers, and robbing two-wheelers and mobile phones under the guise of conducting search and seizures as a police officer. The police arrested Shaikh on Monday after the owner of an electronics store in Vasai filed a complaint that he had stolen a high-end mobile phone. Shaikh is a graduate who aspired to be an actor. While preparing for auditions, he studied how senior officers at various police stations stood, sat, and talked. Frustrated by his lack of success in finding work in Bollywood, he decided to use the police uniform he had bought for auditions to extort money from shopkeepers. He did this by showing them forged letters claiming he had joined a particular police station, complete with the signatures of senior police inspectors.The Waliv police had been receiving complaints about this fake inspector for a long time, prompting them to plan a sting operation to catch the imposter red-handed. On Monday, Shaikh went to an electronics store in Vasai and stole a phone worth ₹1.6 lakh after showing a fake online money transfer message as proof of payment. When the shopkeeper checked his account and found no money was credited, he alerted the police. The officers apprehended Shaikh while he was exiting the area on a stolen motorcycle, dressed in his police uniform.Upon searching his house in Virar, the police found over 30 fake joining letters from various police stations in the Mira-Bhayander, Vasai-Virar region. These letters included the names and signatures of senior police inspectors. Additionally, Shaikh had falsely claimed to shopkeepers that his father-in-law was a police inspector. The police also recovered three police uniforms, fake identity cards, handcuffs, a police cap, and other related items from his possession.Syed Jilani, a police inspector from the Waliv police station, stated that Shaikh has been arrested for cheating, forgery, and impersonation under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Aspiring actor arrested for posing as police officer, robbing bikes, mobiles