Fake ED raid: 6 held; ₹2.1 crore cash, 3 kgs gold recovered

The accused are identified as Mohammed Fazal Siddiqui Gilitwala, Mohammed Razi Mohammad Raffique, Vishaka Mudale, Akbar Qureshi, Mohammad Nahi Hanif Patel and Shamshoukar Ansari.

Mumbai: The police arrested six people, connected to the fake Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid at the office of a jeweller, and recovered ₹2.11 crore cash, three kilograms of gold, four mobiles and one car.

The accused had told the police that they were motivated after watching movies to act as ED officers and accordingly to look real even roped a woman in the conspiracy. She was paid just ₹10,000, said the police. (Image for representation)

The accused are identified as Mohammed Fazal Siddiqui Gilitwala, Mohammed Razi Mohammad Raffique, Vishaka Mudale, Akbar Qureshi, Mohammad Nahi Hanif Patel and Shamshoukar Ansari.

“We had initially recovered ₹15 lakh and 3 kilograms of gold from Gilitwala, 50, Raffique, 36 and Mudale, 30. They were arrested on Tuesday. Later, we recovered more money from the other three accused who were nabbed on Friday and Saturday,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone II, Dr Abhinav Deshmukh.

Initially, the police said, the complainant had told them that cash of ₹25 lakh and 3 kilograms of gold were stolen on Monday, but the investigation has revealed that the gang had stolen ₹2.11 crore cash, 3 kilograms of gold, four mobile phones and one car.

“When the complainant, Virat Mali of V B L Bullion in Zaveri Bazaar, returned from Rajasthan, he also confirmed that he lost around ₹2.25 crore in cash. We have recovered all the stolen booty,” said Deshmukh.

The police said as the “raid” took place at two offices of the jeweller, they registered one more case against the accused. “We have applied the same sections in the second FIR as well, only the complainants are different,” said an officer from LT Marg police station.

The accused had told the police that they were motivated after watching movies to act as ED officers and accordingly to look real even roped in Mudale in the conspiracy. She was paid just ₹10,000, said the police.