Asif Shabir Sayyed.The Borivali police have arrested a 60-year-old man for allegedly impersonating a police officer and stealing ornaments worth Rs 1.65 lakh from a 70-year-old woman. The police claimed the accused, Asif Shabir Sayyed, was arrested for the 43rd time.
According to the police, the accused belongs to the famous “Irani group” and for the last nine years, he had been coming to Mumbai, committing crimes and then fleeing back to Ambivali area in Kalyan, where he lived.
The police said Sayyed has 43 cases registered against him across different police stations in Mumbai. He has been arrested in every case. He allegedly duped people using similar modus operandi and this was the third time he got arrested in 2019. “Last year, he was arrested six times. Every time he was caught and sent to jail, he would come out on bail and commit similar crimes again,” an officer said.
This time, Sayyed along with his son Jafar Ali Sayyed (36) and their accomplice Sheru Mamu Jafri (60) targeted a 70-year-old woman from Borivali (west). On June 8, Sheila Shah, resident of a cooperative housing society in Borivali (west), was on her way to a Jain temple on Chandavarkar Road when Jafar approached her posing as a police officer.
“He stopped her and said his seniors were across the road, who wanted to meet her,” an officer said. Shah got scared and went with him. His accomplices claimed there has been a robbery and, as a precautionary measure, they suggested her to remove her bangles and keep them in a plastic bag. “The two then used sleight of hand and stole the bangles. They then handed her the bag and fled on their bike,” the officer said.
On reaching home, the woman found the ornaments missing. On July 25, the police managed to get hold of Jaffar, who informed them about his father and Sheru’s role in the crime. Jaffer has 10 cases against him. The police were tipped about Sayyed and Sheru’s arrival in the western suburbs following which they laid a trap and arrested them.
