Mumbai: Fake food safety inspector demands Rs 15,000 from Ghatkopar hotel

Omkar Bhanushali

The police have arrested a man posing as a food safety inspector at a popular Ghatkopar hotel. According to cops, the man, identified as Omkar Bhanushali, was carrying an ID card of a Vigilance Food Safety Inspector from the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI). He allegedly demanded Rs 15,000 from the hotel as "fine".

Hotel Radha Krishna, located at Ghatkopar West is a famous joint serving Indian as well as Chinese food. On Thursday, a man wa­lk­ed into the hotel and star­ted taking photos. When the hotel manager objected to this, the man introduced himself as an officer from the FSSAI.

After the 'inspection', Bha­nushali started me­n­tioning flaws in the hotel. When the manager enquired what the hotel authorities should do, Bhanushali demanded R15,000 money as fine.

Bhanushali told the manager to pay in cash and said a receipt would be sent to him the following day. This made the manager suspicious, who told Bhanushali to wait and called up senior police inspector Vyankat Patil at Ghatkopar police station.

Patil said, "I received a call from the hotel saying an FSSAI officer was demanding money from them. I asked them to tell the person to wait and sent my officers to crosscheck his identity. When asked abo­ut his tenure at FSSAI, Bha­n­ushali seemed baffled. The team brought him to the police station, where he confessed to impersonating an FSSAI officer," Patil said.

A Nashik resident, Bhanushali clai­med to be an advocate. "We have found that he has visited many hotels across Mumbai, posing as an FSSAI officer. We are contacting these hotels and to verify the facts," said another officer. Bhanushali has been booked under IPC 170 for impersonating a public servant.

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