Mumbai Crime: 6 held for posing as govt officers, extorting Rs 1.5 lakh from jewellery workshop owner

Photo for representational purpose

Six people were arrested for pretending to be government officers and extorting Rs 1.5 lakh from owner of an imitation jewellery workshop in Malad (East) on Tuesday.

Four of the accused are residents of the Virar-Nala Sopara belt. They were identified as Mahendra Jadhav, 42, Nikhil Jadhav, 34, Swapnil Patil, 34, Tushar Takalkar, 30, Jeevansingh Ravat, 31 and Bhushan Melekar, 32, stated a report in The Times of India.

Police is now determining if the group has been similarly targeting other establishments as well.

On Tuesday, Hakaram Devasi, 39, was at his imitation jewellery workshop at Appapada in Malad (East). Six men barged in and said they were government officers carrying out checks. They told the victim that his workshop was being run illegally, that the acid being stored was unauthorised, child labour had been employed against the law and nobody was wearing masks. To settle the matter, they demanded Rs 1.5 lakh.

Devasi paid up but later approached Kurar police station and lodged a complaint because he felt something was amiss.

Police made inquiries in the neighbourhood and acting on specific information, picked up all six accused from a bar in Virar in Wednesday. They were booked for extortion.