Ex-driver of PWD officer arrested in `Special 26’-style raid case

A group imitated the CBI raids shown in Akshay Kumar-starrer “Special 26” and looted a retired PWD officer pretending to be Enforcement Directorate officers.

Navi Mumbai

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The former driver of the retired PWD officer has been arrested by Rabale police for giving a tip to the ‘special 26’ copy gang. The driver, identified as Subhash Gangaram Kadam (36), worked for two months for the officer and was fired due to rash driving. He had also asked for money for his son’s treatment which the officer had not given. Keeping an anger about this, the driver tipped about him to the accused.

Kadam, a resident of Koparkhairane, worked as a driver for the complainant Kantilal Yadav, a retired PWD officer, during November and December months of 2022. A few months ago, Kadam had Yadav and asked money from Yadav for his son’s treatment. “Yadav did give him some money but not as much as he was asking for which had irked him. So he started efforts to teach Yadav a lesson,” police inspector Bhaguji Auti from Rabale police station said. According to police, Kadam wanted Yadav to get involved in an anti-corruption, ED, or income tax raid. Kadam told the police that he had passed on the information to a friend identified as Deepak Kavitkar who is the main accused in the case, assuming that he would help him get a raid done at the residence. Kadam has claimed that he did not know that Kavitkar himself would plan a loot that would look like a raid.

With the arrest of Kadam, the total number of arrests in the case has gone upto 12. Last week, a gang, posing as anti-corruption officers, raided the house of Yadav, at Airoli Sector-6. The gang then looted cash, gold ornaments and other valuables worth ₹34.75 lakh from Yadav’s house on the pretext of searching the house. During the investigation, the police got the first lead from the cctv footage that had captured the registration number of the vehicle the gang used. Police have claimed that there are more accused wanted in this case.