Mumbai: Fake cop's faux pas! Khaki shirt on traffic police bike

MUMBAI: It takes a cop to know a cop -- fake or genuine. Officials of MIDC police station have nabbed a man masquerading as a constable.
The fake cop, Kailash Khamkar (45), was astride a 'police bike' below Chakala Metro station Tuesday evening with authoritative demeanour when a police van passed by. Sub-inspector Yash Palwe gave him a cursory look and instantly found that something did not add up. It soon struck him that the man was in full khaki uniform, but the bike one used by traffic cops who wear white shirts. The two-wheeler had a sticker with 'Police' on it.
The real cop asked his van driver to return to the spot. "I was a bit careful as he had outward signs of being senior to me," Palwe said. The 'fake' cop had more stars on the epaulettes than Palwe has earned so far.
As Palwe and his team walked up towards the man astride the bike, he started to move hurriedly. Cornered, they asked him which section he was from. "He knew a lot about police departments and internal function," Palwe said, adding that they then asked him to produce his police identity. The card he showed them said it was 'issued by Ghatkopar police station'. Another giveaway that something was wrong. All identities of Mumbai commissionerate are issued by 'Mumbai Police', not individual police stations.
The fake cop initially fumbled a bit, then claimed he was from the state's investigation agency, CID, and said he was on a 'secret mission'. More interrogation gave the plot away. Khamkar was employed as a loader at the airport. He wore the khaki uniform, moved on his modified bike made to resemble the traffic cop's vehicle. He went around the place and wangled at least 30 sealed cigarette packets from shops. "He told shopkeepers they would have to give this daily haftaa if they wanted to do business," said an officer. This way, he made about Rs 3,000 a day, the police claimed. This was, of course, a side earning, apart from what he earned as an airport loader. He then sold the extorted cigarettes.
An officer said his knowledge about internal functioning of police departments could be because he worked as a traffic warden. The police are verifying this.
A search of his bike yielded cigarette packets, fake vehicle number plates and cash. The cops are getting details of his bank account.
Deputy commissioner of police Maheshwar Reddy, Khamkar said senior inspector Satish Gaikwad deployed a team comprising sub-inspector Yash Palwe, constables Shanker Kale, Hanmant Pujari, Nitin Nalawade, Shiva Pawar, Pradip Chavan, and Amol Pawar were working on another case when they spotted the fake cop.