Mumbai: Jogeshwari Police on Friday arrested four people for allegedly robbing 400 grams of gold worth Rs. 22 lakhs from a Mira Road resident when he was returning from Dubai on July 15.
The complainant, Asfaq Zidda, 41, reached Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai and took an auto to reach his home at Mira Road.
As per Zidda’s written statement to the police, when he reached Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link Road, three people on a motorcycle, stopped his auto. They identified themselves as police officials ‘on duty’ who needed to check Zidda’s bag.
“They got inside the auto and told him to hand over his bag as they (accused) had received some tip-off about him (victim) carrying illegal gold by the 'agencies' and then took his bag and left,” said an official at the police station.
The official continued, “They even told the victim to approach the police in this matter, as what they were doing was an official procedure.”
However, since it was raining heavily on that day, Zidda left for his destination on Mira Road and narrated the entire story to the person whose jewellery he was carrying.
When they approached the local police in the area to inquire about the incident, they realized it was all fake about the four people being cops, and that Zidda was looted.
The matter reached the Jogeshwari police station and an investigation was initiated to find the accused. The police managed to identify one of the accused from the CCTV cameras installed at the airport along with the technical evidence being collected.
“After arresting one accused, it led us to the remaining three. We are investigating further to identify if there is any racket behind this gang,” said the official.
According to the police, the four are identified as Sadiq Ali Sayyad, Irfan Shaikh, Kalim Shaikh, and Mohammed Khalil Shah Bhatkal. Police sources reveal that the fourth accused, Bhatkal, hails from Bhatkal in Karnataka. He is suspected to be the one who gave away information about Zidda carrying gold to the other three.
The police managed to seize 298 grams of gold worth Rs. 15 lakhs from the accused. The investigation to recover the remaining property is underway.
A case has been registered against them under section 170 (personating a public servant), 420 (cheating), and other relevant acts of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
