Mumbai Crime branch arrests fake IPS officer after 1200km long car chase

The accused had cheated several people by impersonating as a top police officer.

Mumbai police crime branch officials have arrested a 38-year-old Rajasthan man who posed as an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and allegedly kidnapped a Surat businessman from a renowned hotel in Marine Drive and extorted ₹16 lakh under the pretext of settling a complaint registered against the businessman in directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI), said officials.

Accused Shiv Shankar Sharma used to wear the uniform of an IAS officer to hoodwink his victims. (Sourced Photo)

The police chased the accused by road for hundreds of kilometers from Gujarat to Bangalore for over 24-hours, before he could be arrested. The accused would extort money from big businessmen posing as a senior IPS officer and would splurge the ill-gotten money on his lavish lifestyle, the probe has revealed.

The arrested impersonator cum extortionist has been identified as one Shiv Shankar Sharma, 38 year old resident of Byavar in Rajasthan’s Ajmer district. Sharma has been arrested on the complaint of Surat resident Mohammed Ehtesham Aslam Naviwala, who is into garment export business.

According to the officials in the crime branch, a few weeks ago, Naviwala received a call from Sharma, who posed as a senior IPS officer and informed him about registration of a complaint against him at the DRI for some customs and export-norms related violations. Sharma offered to solve the matter by mediating and called Naviwala to a four star hotel in Marine Drive.

At the hotel room, Sharma offered to settle the matter for payment of a hefty sum. This led to a heated argument between Naviwala and Sharma and his associates. “They (then) assaulted Naviwala, abused him and confined him to the room. They later threatened and kidnapped him on gunpoint and later drove him to Gujarat to collect the ransom. He was harassed and was released only after he managed to pay ₹16 lakh cash to the accused,” said a crime branch officer requesting anonymity.

After the incident, Naviwala first approached Gujarat police and then Mumbai police. After preliminary inquiry with the Marine Drive hotel, the Marine Drive police registered a case last week. As the case was serious in nature, the senior officials pressed officials of Mumbai crime branch’s anti-extortion cell (AEC) to look into the matter.

AEC officials used technological surveillance and information received from reliable sources to trace Sharma’s location in Gujarat, said the official. An AEC team then went to Gujarat, but Sharma kept on changing his locations, the officer added.

“We chased him from Gujarat to Bengaluru for over 24-hours by road and eventually nabbed him in Bengaluru on Tuesday. He was brought to Mumbai and was placed under arrest,” the officer added.

During interrogation it was revealed that Sharma had learnt through an associate that there was an existing complaint against Naviwala in DRI and therefore, he hatched a conspiracy to extort money from the businessman, another crime branch officer said.

Investigators also learnt that Sharma has a notorious past. He was arrested last year for impersonating as an IPS officer and duping an eatery owner of several lakhs of rupees in Madhya Pradesh. Sharma also reportedly cheated a female police officer from Gujarat police by promising to marry her and then scooting off after taking a big amount of money from her.

“The accused spend the unlawfully obtained money in his expansive and lavish lifestyle. He owns a car and would keep a senior IPS officer’s uniform and a cover of service pistol in the car. He would convince his victims by bragging about his alleged clout in the police department and among ministers,” another officer said.

Sharma has been booked under sections 170 (impersonating a public servant), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 323 (asaault), 342 (wrongful confinement), 364A (kidnapping for ransom, 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of hurt), 504 (abuse) and 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code and 3 and 25 of the Arms Act. Presently he is in police custody.

Sharma’s other associates are on the crime branch’s radar and may be arrested soon, said the official quoted above.