Fake CBI officers’ gang busted; 7 arrested

The accused have been identified as Jiva Ahir, 52, Girish Valecha, 29, Mangal Patel, 44, Kishore Chaubal, 52, Nasir Khan, 45, Sunil Yadav, 30 and Sunil Chandel, 46

Mumbai: Seven persons of a gang operating from Mumbra, Thane, were arrested for allegedly posing as officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and raiding offices of share brokers as well as businessmen to extort money from them.

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The accused have been identified as Jiva Ahir, 52, Girish Valecha, 29, Mangal Patel, 44, Kishore Chaubal, 52, Nasir Khan, 45, Sunil Yadav, 30 and Sunil Chandel, 46. After extorting ₹5 lakh from a share broker in Goregaon on September 30, 2022, the accused had gone to Chhattisgarh and extorted ₹2 crore from a businessman, police officials said. They added that the men had been on the run since then.

On Saturday, Goregaon police had received information from Chhattisgarh police that the accused were hiding in Mumbra. Accordingly, a joint team of police carried out searches in the city and arrested the men.

On September 30 last year, the accused allegedly visited the office of a share broker in Goregaon West and introduced themselves as employees of a financial institution and offered him a loan of up to ₹1.5 crore to invest in commodity trading, a police officer said. “The men told the complainant that they knew him through an acquaintance. After talking to him, the accused demanded to see ₹5 lakh in cash purportedly to check if he would be able to repay the loan,” he added.

After the complainant produced the amount before them, some of the accused flashed their identity cards and introduced themselves as CBI officers and police personnel and told the complainant that they were conducting a raid on his premises for unearthing unaccounted cash, added the officer.

“They also threatened the complainant that if he refused to hand over the sum of ₹5 lakh, they would register an FIR against him and arrest him. The accused then escorted the complainant out of his office and took him towards their SUV parked outside,” the officer said.

Upon looking at the vehicle’s number plate, the complainant realised that it was a private vehicle and raised an alarm as well as asked his security guards to catch the accused, the officer said, adding, “They managed to nab two of the men. The complainant also alerted a patrolling police van on the road. The policemen then chased two of the accused for a kilometre and nabbed four of the gang while three others managed to flee away.”

After the four got out on bail, the seven then went to Chhattisgarh and using the same modus operandi, allegedly extorted ₹2 crore from a businessman. “The men were produced before the court in Mumbai and after the court granted their transit remand, they were sent to Chhattisgarh for further interrogation into the ₹2 crore extortion case,” said the police officer.