MUMBAI: In a scene straight out of the Bollywood film 'Special 26,' a gang of men and women landed up at the Dahisar home of a courier company owner and made off with cash and cellphones amounting to Rs 81 lakh recently. The Dahisar police arrested 13 people, including the wife of the mastermind, on charges of cheating and forgery. Four people are still on the run.
The incident occurred on June 8 at Kisan Belvate's (59) home in Overipada, Dahisar East. Police said Belvate had sold off farm land at his hometown and kept the sale proceeds at his flat. Around 4.30am, a group of 8 to 10 people including two women rang the doorbell. Belvate's son answered the door and asked them who they were. The men and women produced identity cards which said they were from the Income Tax department. After being granted entry to the house, they told Belvate to produce all the illegal wealth that he had in the house and be prepared to face legal action.
"Belvate fished out Rs 80 lakh in cash that he had kept at different places in the house. The accused "seized" the cash, besides four high end cellphones worth Rs 1.12 lakh from the house. They asked Belvate to sign some documents and appear at the headquarters later for questioning," said senior inspector Vasant Pingle.
After the group left, Belvate confided in his neighbour, Deepak Shah, as he had found the whole "raid" very suspicious. When Shah agreed with him, Belvate lodged a police complaint. The cops found that the gang had left in a car and an auto. Through technical surveillance methods, the auto driver, Sameer Ketkar, was tracked down from Andheri. He told the cops that the mastermind of the racket was one Sameer Topi. The cops also found that the gang had made identity cards and dressed like public servants.
Shortly, 13 accused including Topi's wife, Babita Chauhan, were arrested from Mumbai and neighbouring towns. It turned out that the gang had been tipped off by Shah's ex driver, Ajay Jadhav, about Belvate's assets.
Those arrested besides Ketkar, Chauhan and Jadhav are Shailesh Pawar, 36, Kundan Gawde, 40, Prabhakar Palande, 41, Narendra Markande, 40, Santosh Dube, 42, Rajendra Nishad, 27, Altaaf Kagdi, 32, Sujit Soni, 29, Anthony Vadakan, 39 and Kumudini Badhe, 43. All the accused have been remanded to police custody till June 17 by a magistrate court. "Recovery of Belvate's cash and phones is on," said DCP Vinay Rathod.
The incident occurred on June 8 at Kisan Belvate's (59) home in Overipada, Dahisar East. Police said Belvate had sold off farm land at his hometown and kept the sale proceeds at his flat. Around 4.30am, a group of 8 to 10 people including two women rang the doorbell. Belvate's son answered the door and asked them who they were. The men and women produced identity cards which said they were from the Income Tax department. After being granted entry to the house, they told Belvate to produce all the illegal wealth that he had in the house and be prepared to face legal action.
"Belvate fished out Rs 80 lakh in cash that he had kept at different places in the house. The accused "seized" the cash, besides four high end cellphones worth Rs 1.12 lakh from the house. They asked Belvate to sign some documents and appear at the headquarters later for questioning," said senior inspector Vasant Pingle.
After the group left, Belvate confided in his neighbour, Deepak Shah, as he had found the whole "raid" very suspicious. When Shah agreed with him, Belvate lodged a police complaint. The cops found that the gang had left in a car and an auto. Through technical surveillance methods, the auto driver, Sameer Ketkar, was tracked down from Andheri. He told the cops that the mastermind of the racket was one Sameer Topi. The cops also found that the gang had made identity cards and dressed like public servants.
Shortly, 13 accused including Topi's wife, Babita Chauhan, were arrested from Mumbai and neighbouring towns. It turned out that the gang had been tipped off by Shah's ex driver, Ajay Jadhav, about Belvate's assets.
Those arrested besides Ketkar, Chauhan and Jadhav are Shailesh Pawar, 36, Kundan Gawde, 40, Prabhakar Palande, 41, Narendra Markande, 40, Santosh Dube, 42, Rajendra Nishad, 27, Altaaf Kagdi, 32, Sujit Soni, 29, Anthony Vadakan, 39 and Kumudini Badhe, 43. All the accused have been remanded to police custody till June 17 by a magistrate court. "Recovery of Belvate's cash and phones is on," said DCP Vinay Rathod.
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