Three clean-up marshals pose as Mumbai cops, ask student for Rs 50,000-fine for smoking e-cigarette

The accused who got inside the woman`s rickshaw tried stopping her from recording him.

A college student was allegedly harassed by three people who posed as police personnel and demanded a fine of ₹50,000 after accusing her of violating the law by smoking an e-cigarette in an autorickshaw.

According to sources, the complainant smoked an e-cigarette while heading home from college in an autorickshaw. The accused, who were following the woman on a bike, stopped her rickshaw. One of them got inside the autorickshaw and introduced himself as a police personal. He then told the woman that e-cigarettes are banned and that she had violated the law. He also threatened to take her to the police station if she failed to pay a fine of Rs 50,000.

The student repeatedly apologised to the accused but they did not budge. The complainant said that she was a student and did not have such a huge amount of money. She also promised not to repeat the mistake, but the men threated to take her to Powai Police Station for legal action.

They then asked the student to call a friend and send them Rs 10,000. The student contacted her brother and explained the situation. The brother felt something amiss and asked her to take a video of the interaction between the student and the three men. When she began recording them, the accused hurled abuses at her and fled the spot.

The complainant then approached Powai Police which transferred the case to MIDC Police Station for further investigation.

After the woman tweeted about the incident with the video of the accused, the police sprung into action.

Under the supervision of Zone 10 Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Sachin Gunjal, Senior Inspectors Paratparao Kadam and Anand Rao Kashid and their team traced the accused using CCTV footage and call data records, and subsequently arrested them, an officer from MIDC Police Station said.

The accused were identified as Jogeshwari resident Dilshad Khan and Andheri residents Simranjeet Singh and Mohammed Rafique Chaudhary.

During the interrogation, it was revealed that all three are cleanup marshals assigned on a contract basis in the K-East Ward (Andheri) of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

The accused were charged under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and were remanded in police custody, the officer added.