Mumbai: 8 including constable held for looting Rs 25 lakh from hotelier

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Eight people, including a retired police officer and a serving constable, have been arrested for allegedly impersonating crime branch agents and robbing a café owner of Rs 25 lakh, city police said on Thursday. The complainant, who manages a renowned cafe in the Matunga neighbourhood, informed police that six people came to his residence near the Sion hospital a few days ago, claiming to be from the Mumbai police's crime branch.

They informed him that he had stashed illicit money at home to use in the ongoing elections. The hotelier told them that he had only Rs 25 lakh in cash that had nothing to do with the elections, but the accused snatched the cash and fled after threatening to implicate him in a false case, the complaint said.

After approaching the Sion police station, an investigation began, and eight people, including a working police constable and a retired police officer, were arrested on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the official. The accused constable is a police driver, and the retired officer is also a member of the same police motor vehicle department, he said. A court placed the accused in police custody until May 21.

With PTI inputs