Man held for impersonating police officer to steal mobile phones

PUNE A man has been arrested by the Pimpri-Chinchwad police for impersonating a police official and stealing mobile phones from four autorickshaw drivers - one in Wakad, two in Warje, and one in Chaturshrungi

PUNE A man has been arrested by the Pimpri-Chinchwad police for impersonating a police official and stealing mobile phones from four autorickshaw drivers - one in Wakad, two in Warje, and one in Chaturshrungi.

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The arrested man was identified as Sachin Bhausaheb Sakate (37), a resident of Londhe chawl in Tanajinagar area of Chinchwadgaon. The man was produced in the Pimpri court on Monday and remanded to three days police custody.

“We have found one mobile phone that he had stolen at the Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital in March. That case has been registered. We will find three more mobile phones soon,” said senior insepctor Vivek Mugalikar of Wakad police station.

A complaint in the matter was lodged by Irfan Hasham Shaikh (44), a resident of Chakan.

“He sat in my rickshaw in Kalewadi (in March) and took me to YCM and then to Ruby Hall hospital on the first floor and made me sit outside saying only police are allowed beyond this point. He brought a white paper from the office and started writing on it before going in. Then he came out in some time and asked for my phone. He said his phone does not support photos. Then he left from another gate and I spent around an hour looking for him. Then I went to Sant Tukaram police chowki and narrated the incident,” said Shaikh.

In three other cases, the man used similar reasons to take rickshaw drivers’ phones and leave them in a lurch at various hospitals.

A case under Sections 170, 171, and 420 (cheating) of Indian Penal Code was registered at Wakad police station against Sakate.