Updated on: 11th July 2023 2:08 PM IST | Mumbai
S S Nadar | news@debotimes.in

As per the complaint, the 27-year-old, who works at his father's stationery shop, was at a cafe in Versova on June 30, waiting with a friend to get a table

THE MUMBAI Crime Branch on Sunday busted a gang that allegedly abducted a 27-year-old Andheri resident last month by posing as cops, and extorted Rs 5.3 lakhs from him on the pretext of “not booking him in a drigs case”.

The Mumbai Crime Branch arrested the gang leader Deepak Jadhav (36) on Sunday, after the victim filed a complaint. DCP (crime) Raj Tilak Roushan said they suspect the accused had duped several others in a similar manner. “We have arrested the mastermind and are on the lookout for five others who were involved in the abduction and extortion,” Roushan said.

As per the complaint, the 27-year-old, who works at his father’s stationery shop, was at a cafe in Versova on June 30, waiting with a friend to get a table. “Around 8 pm, four accused posing as narcotics officers approached him and said that a drug case was going to be registered against him. They said that if he didn’t want the case to be registered, he would have to come with them. The ‘cops’ took him in an autorickshaw which was followed by another auto,” the police said, adding that in all, there were six persons and the victim in the two autos.

“The ‘cops’ asked him to pay up Rs 50 lakhs if he didnt want to get ‘booked’ in the case. Eventually, they took Rs 5 lakhs from him through UPI and bank transfer. Since adding a beneficiary name to a bank account takes a few hours, the accused kept roaming around Mumbai for nearly six hours with the victim,” Roushan said.

They took his mobile handset, and eventually dropped him at his residence but came back to his home within a few hours, as per the statement. They scared his parents as well and took a cheque of Rs 7 lakhs from them, police said. By then, the family realised they had been conned and approached the crime branch.

A crime branch (unit IX) team led by incharge Daya Nayak tracked down Jadhav. During interrogation, the police found that Jadhav has a similar case registered against him at DN Nagar police station.

Police said Jadhav lived in Washim and comes to the city primarily to commit some crime. “When he is in the city, he lives in a dormitory. Once he has committed the crime, he returns to his house,” the officer said. The officer added that police are also checking whether some policeman is also involved in the case.