Mumbai Crime: DCPs among those who fell prey to 'VIP' con men

Kishor Mali, one of the arrested accused, is a member of the Rashtriya Samaj Paksha

Interrogations of the four arrested members of the high-profile 'bureaucrat transfer racket' - who were held from a city five-star on May 31 - have revealed that the racketeers have been in the cheating business since a few years and are suspected to have duped many policemen, from the constable level to deputy commissioners of police (DCP), according to sources.

However, no cop has come forward to lodge a complaint, because they had taken a huge amount of money from all of them.

Also read - Mumbai Crime: 4 held for duping IAS and IPS officers with false promises

The four arrested accused Virendrasingh Yadav, Kishore Mali, Vishal Omble and Vidyasagar Hirmukhe would dupe bureaucrats by bragging about their influence in the Mantrayala and New Delhi to get them desired posts. It is not known how many of the accused's attempts to get the posts were successful.

Trying to dupe the DCP
From questioning the accused, crime branch officials have learnt that Mali, who is a leader of Rashtriya Samaj Paksha - a political party with a stronghold in Solapur -, was the one who had approached DCP Namdev Chavan in Solapur around 45 days ago.

Since Chavan resides in Navi Mumbai, Mali had said he could get him a posting near his residence, probably in Mumbai. Mali, in return, had demanded a huge sum for his services.

Also read: Retired IAS officer duped of Rs 2.2 lakh wins case to get his money back

But Chavan suspected something fishy and informed the police. Hence, when Mali, along with other accused came to Mumbai and met Chavan in the five-star hotel, crime branch officials arrested him. Other members of the racket were also arrested later.

Red beacon cheat
Probe revealed that Mali was in contact with Omble and Yadav. Omble, who is originally from Pune's Yerwada area, has several cases of extortion and cheating registered against him. "Omble would roam in red beacon vehicles, posing as a VIP having influence in the Mantralaya to cheat people on various pretexts," said a crime branch official.

Probe into Yadav's background revealed he is a real estate consultant and agent working in Delhi. Police had found a visiting card of his name as a member of the Censor Board. However, they believe that it's fake.

As for Hiremukhe, who is general manager of Mahanand Dairy and former personal assistant to minister Siddharam Mhetre - he was also a key member of the racket, as he was in contact with the personal assistants of many ministers. He was arrested in by ACB a few years ago in a bribery case.

Also read: Government official duped of savings

Another source said that before busting the racket, city crime branch had also received liable information from an additional director general of police (ADG) rank official of the Maharashtra police.

A DCP, on behalf of this ADG, was also part of the police team that raided the hotel number 2012 of the five-star in Vile Parle.

More arrests likely
Joint commissioner of police (crime) Sanjay Saxena said, "We have formed four teams to investigate the matter thoroughly." Investigators are scanning the phone call details of the arrested accused. More arrests are likely.

From the hotel room raid, cops have seized Rs 6.7 lakh in cash, stamp of a government department, some incriminating documents and two cheques of Rs 5 crore and Rs 40 lakh. Cops suspect the cheques are not genuine.