THANE: Three persons, including a woman, were
arrested by the crime branch for flaunting connections with
chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, and for mimicking his voice and attempting to con a BJP
corporator, promising him a state legislative council seat.
Abdula Ansari (24), from Alephata, Ahmednagar district, Anud Shirgaonkar (29) from Kalyan and Anilkumar Bhanushali (31) from Navi Mumbai tried to con Manohar Dumbre (ward 2) here.
Dumbre told TOI that on March 6, a party worker introduced him to Bhanushali, who offered to secure him a party nomination following a vacancy.
“I was introduced to Shirgaonkar, who claimed to be close to the CM and promised help to get the seat but at a cost. I was told to pay Rs 25 lakh for approval; once the CM gave consent, I was told to pay Rs 4.7 crore; and before the oath ceremony and after the work was done Rs 5 crore,” Dumbre said.
To convince the corporator, Shirgaonkar dialled his cellphone, claiming to be speaking to the CM, and put it on a conference call, ensuring that Dumbre heard the conversation.
The call was actually attended to by Ansari, who posed as the CM, and to the corporator in the same tone, and asked him to pay Rs 10 crore which was seconded by Shirgaonkar, the corporator said.
“I smelled a rat and knew the rules and regulations of the party, so I contacted the CM directly, informing him about the offer to me in his name. I was guided to the crime branch, and a team decided to arrest the accused red-handed,” Dumbre said.
In the meantime, to convince the accused, Dumbre gave them a hard copy of his bio-data, which was signed by the CM and stamped.
Senior inspectors Jairaj Ranaware, Sanju John, Manohar Patil, along with sub-inspector Shivraj Bendre and other team members, decided to trap the accused. A meeting was fixed at a hotel at Ghodbunder Road with dummy notes of Rs 25 lakh.
Shirgaonkar is an SSC pass but police found four ID cards of the National Investigation Agency of her and other family members, while ID cards of the central vigilance commissioner were found at Bhanushali’s house.
Police said they don’t have criminal records but they may have cheated several others.
Representative image
