Police in Sion have arrested eight men for posing as Income Tax officers and robbing a businessman’s family to the tune of Rs 18 lakh.
According to the police, the incident occurred on November 26. Four men came to the victim’s house on TV Chidambaram Marg in Sion (East). They showed fake identity cards and entered the house to ‘conduct a raid’. They told the family that they had received a tip-off regarding black money in the house. They started searching and asked the family to bring out all the valuables they had.
The men told the family that all the valuables would be seized, but nobody would be arrested and that an official notice would be issued soon. They collected Rs18 lakh in cash and left in an Innova four-wheeler.
A family member later contacted their chartered accountant and narrated the incident. The CA, after making some enquires, realised that the family had been robbed, and told them to register a police complaint.
After receiving the complaint, police flung into action. The Innova the accused used was captured on the CCTV camera outside the victim’s building premises. The vehicle was registered under the name of a woman named Sarita Mangle, a resident of Mankhurd. The police approached her and she said the vehicle was used by her husband, Rajram (47). The police detained Rajram and upon interrogation, he confessed the crime.
After placing Mangle under arrest, one by one police arrested the remaining accused. They were identified as: Santosh Patval (37), Amardeep Sonawane (29), Bhaurao Ingle (52), who are all in real estate business, and residents of Mankhurd. Sushant Ramchandra Lohar (33), a driver and resident of Mankhurd as well, was the mastermind of the crime. Lohar worked for the victim as a driver and had known about cash at their place. The other three accused are Sharad Ekavade (33), Abhay Kasle (33) and Ramkumar Gujjar (33). They all do small-time jobs and are residents of Navi Mumbai, Thane and Dharavi, respectively.
All the eight accused are currently in police custody. Further probe is on to retrieve the stolen money, the police said on Tuesday.
