Mumbai: Four unknown people enter Andheri school, take photos of girl students

A CCTV grab shows man allegedly supposed to be a police official

Four unknown individuals allegedly forcefully entered a school in Andheri East on Friday afternoon, claiming to be police officers and election officials. They took photographs of the students, including girls. The school contacted the police control room, and the Andheri police have started an investigation to identify the individuals who visited the school.

The school management has written a letter to the concerned authorities including the chief minister, Mumbai police commissioner, child welfare commission and others for quick intervention and urging action into the matter. However, a police officer told mid-day that one of them was a real policeman and the others were electoral officials, but the school authorities insisted that if they had been legitimate officers, they should have shown their ID cards.

The incident occurred at a school located in Gundavali, Andheri East. According to school officials, the incident took place on Friday evening around 4 pm, when approximately four people, including a woman, entered through the school gate. The watchman attempted to stop them, but they threatened and pushed him. They later told the school management that they were police personnel and had come for unspecified reasons.
These individuals began taking photographs with their mobile phones, including pictures of the girls, before fleeing the scene.

The school authorities immediately informed the police control room and also wrote to the police and the Chief Minister, requesting action against these individuals. Speaking with mid-day, the Head of the Department at the school said, "None of them showed any ID cards or signed the visitor's book when confronted by our staff. We demand that the police take strict action against these individuals to prevent another incident like Badlapur. If they were real police officers and election officials, they should have shown their ID cards and not threatened our staff. They had no permission to take photos of the girl students."

In response, Senior Inspector Umesh Machindar of the Andheri police station, said, "We received a complaint from the school, and upon investigation, we found that they were indeed real police officers and election officials. They visited the school for upcoming election-related work. However, we are looking into the specifics of what happened on the ground."