From constable to fake DCP: 15-year con ends in arrest

He decided to become a fraudster while accompanying seniors to celebrity events, where he scouted for people he could dupe

MUMBAI: Somewhere out there is a fake police uniform still at large. But the man who wore it – a constable who ‘promoted’ himself as an IPS officer and spent 15 years living a double life in the police force – has finally been arrested.

From constable to fake DCP: 15-year con ends in arrest

Mohammad Gaus Ibrahim Khatib, 54, a former national-level kickboxer and a constable with the Government Railway Police (GRP), amassed a fortune posing as an assistant commissioner of police (ACP) and later as a deputy commissioner of police (DCP) with the Mumbai police force. Over the years, he is suspected to have swindled scores of vulnerable businessmen, job seekers and others.

As a ‘DCP’, Khatib officiated at various events and award functions, rubbing shoulders with Bollywood stars like Amitabh Bachchan and Jackie Shroff. Remarkably, no one smelled a rat, not even when he circulated a slickly produced video titled ‘DCP Raj Sir’ as a promotional tool.

Khatib was arrested on June 26 after one of his victims suspected something was amiss with a ‘business deal’ Khatib had promised to broker. The complaint, a Ghatkopar resident named Yash Madhura, was introduced to the fake DCP at a party last month. ‘Dr’ Raj Khatib told Madhura he could help him secure the business loan worth ₹1.5 crore he was seeking, as he knew several senior bank officials.

Khatib had a network of fraudsters, including ‘Dr’ Dharmendra Kumar, a Juhu resident who made headlines recently after he was arrested for posing as a doctor for 28 years. The fake DCP introduced Madhura to another associate, a ‘banker’ called Shahid Kapadia. “The three of them partied at a five-star hotel in Santacruz, where Madhura parted with ₹10 lakh to facilitate the business loan,” said Raj Tilak Roushan, deputy commissioner of police (detection), crime branch.

While the loan was ‘being processed’, Khatib drew Madhura into another scam. He convinced the Ghatkopar businessman to bid for a fictitious Nagpur property attached by investigating agencies.

“The fake DCP claimed he could ensure Madhura could get it at a dirt cheap price,” said police inspector Ganesh Pisal, investigating the cases against Khatib. When Khatib asked him to part with the ‘first instalment’ of ₹50 lakh, Madhura grew suspicious and visited the Mumbai police headquarters. There, he met DCP Roushan, who confirmed there was no DCP identified as ‘Dr Raj Khatib’ in the Mumbai police force.

“My inquiries revealed that Khatib was a fraudster posing as a deputy commissioner of police and duping people,” said Roushan, who then formed a team headed by Pisal and comprising assistant police inspector Devidas Labde, sub-inspector Jeetendra Shedge and constables Ujjwal Kelkar and Shekhar Vadage to probe Madhura’s complaint. Krishnakant Upadhyay, additional commissioner of police, crime branch, is guiding the team.

Police picked up Khatib from a five-star hotel in Santacruz, where he had arrived to accept the ‘first instalment’ from Madhura. “We also arrested his son Masab Mohammad Gaus Khatib, 26. We seized fake Maharashtra police identity cards from Khatib senior, but could not recover the police uniform he used and are still searching for it,” said Pisal.

Police soon discovered a shocking trail of scams where Khatib, a confidence trickster in police clothing, had not only drawn vulnerable victims into his ambit, he had also convinced companies to part with CSR funds.

When his victims learnt of his arrest, they began to come forward. Among them is Sikandar Kothari, a Gujarat resident who operates OTT platforms. Kothari had paid a builder ₹98 lakh for a flat in Mumbai, but the builder neither gave him the flat nor returned the money. “Khatib told Kothari he would help him recover his money and spent over ₹16 lakh on the fraudsters,” said a police officer.

Shrikant Patil, who runs a transport business in Mumbai, had met the “fake DCP” at an event, where Khatib assured police jobs during a police recruitment drive last year. “Patil spread the word among relatives and three aspiring candidates ended up paying ₹4 lakh each to Khatib,” said Roushan. The jobs never materialised.

The fake DCP defrauded another businessman from Gujarat, Nitin Chowdhury, a diamond trader who wanted to recover dues of around ₹1 crore from a Mumbai businessman. An acquaintance suggested he meet Khatib and ended up losing the ₹10 lakh he paid the trickster for the recovery job.

Police said Khatib’s family lives in Pune and he was in Mumbai with the GRP. His network of fraudsters would pose as senior bankers, central government officials and even officers of the Enforcement Directorate, to extract money.

One of them is Rajesh Chaudhary, who would pose as a central government official posted in New Delhi, including the Enforcement Directorate. Chaudhary was arrested in the Chhattisgarh coal scam, said a police officer.

Police said Khatib’s accomplice, the fake doctor Dharmendra Kumar, had provided Khatib a platform by arranging medical camps and other health-related events in the western suburbs.

The Mumbai crime branch has registered five cases against Khatib and his accomplices, so far. “Being a GRP constable, he knew how the police force worked. The idea of posing as a fake IPS officer first hit him when he used to attend major events with celebrities while accompanying seniors. He used these events to develop contacts for his fraudulent activities, said Roushan. “He started posing as an ACP and a decade later, promoted himself to the rank of DCP,” he added.

Polie have registered cases against Khatib under sections 204, 318 and 319 for impersonating a public servant, cheating and cheating by impersonation of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and are examining the possibility of invoking Section 111 relating to organised crime.