Man held for posing as cop, cheating bizman of ₹27 lakh

The Mumbai Police’s crime branch on Saturday arrested a 47-year-old conman, who posed as a police officer and allegedly cheated a Worli-based businessman of ₹27

The Mumbai Police’s crime branch on Saturday arrested a 47-year-old conman, who posed as a police officer and allegedly cheated a Worli-based businessman of ₹27 lakh on the pretext of giving him gold at a rate lower than the market price. Police are looking for more accused in the case.

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The accused, Sanju Bhima Sanap alias Rane Commander, a resident of CGS colony, Ghatkopar (West), is allegedly a habitual offender and has cheated several people in the city and outside, over the past ten years.

There are several cases registered against the accused in Bandra, Kherwadi, Santacruz, Trombay, crime branch unit 7, Uran, Karad, Satara and Kolhapur police stations on charges of attempted dacoity, extortion, cheating and impersonating a policeman, said an officer from the crime branch .

According to the police, the complainant, Sachin Chavan, 33, a Worli resident who works in the gold business, alleged that he met with one of the accused, Kaushtubh Koli, two years ago through a common friend. Koli told him that his friend LG Pujari also deals with gold and can provide gold at a lower price, following which the victim agreed to buy one kilogram gold for ₹27 lakh. The deal was finalised in August 2019 after checking of gold samples, said the police officer.

As Pujari insisted that they will only accept cash, the complainant arrived at the spot where they were scheduled to carry out the deal with a bag full of cash.

While Pujari did not come, Sanap along with another accused approached the victim claiming they were police officers. Sanap threatened the victim as the other accused fled with the bag. Following this, Sanap, too, left the spot.

The victim then approached Kherwadi police and filed a complaint, which was converted to an FIR on January 28 and the case was subsequently handed over to crime branch unit 8.

“We got a tip-off and nabbed Sanap from Ghatkopar on Saturday evening. After questioning, it was confirmed that he was involved in the crime,” said senior inspector Ajay Joshi.

The accused was handed over to Kherwadi police station for further legal process, Joshi said.