Panvel City Police arrested three persons for allegedly making fake passes using which people could move around in vehicles during the lockdown. E-passes issued to four persons for travelling from Panvel to Jalna in Maharashtra by the Raigad district collector's office were also seized.
Acting on a tip-off, Panvel City police detained three persons and recovered the e-passes from them. These passes were sent to the district collector's office to verify their authenticity.
Ajay Kumar Landge, senior inspector, Panvel City Police, said that the collector's office had denied having issued passes for travel from Panvel to Jalna. The arrested have been identified as Maruti Vilash Rathod, 21, a resident of Karanjade and native of Jalna, Javed Ahmed Shaikh, 28, a resident of Karanjade and native of Beed and Salim Bashalal Shaikh, 42, a resident of Kharghar in Navi Mumbai.
They have been arrested under sections 420, 465, 468, 471, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code and 66 (A) of the IT Act. They were presented before Panvel court and they have been sent to police custody till May 15.
Police said that the fake e-passes were allegedly 'issued' on May 2 by the 'collector's office'. Police also seized three mobile phones from them, worth Rs 30,000. According to police, the e-pass was valid for travel in the next 15 days.
