Mumbai: Thieves extort Rs 11.5 lakh from jeweller posing as IB officers

Accused were arrested on Thursday. Representation pic

The VP Road police in Girgaon have arrested four persons for allegedly posing as Intelligence Bureau (IB) officers from Delhi and extorting Rs 11.50 lakh from a jewellery shop owner. The incident occurred at Balaji Gold Jewellery shop in Byculla. The whole incident was captured on the CCTV cameras of the store.

Police have identified the accused as Pawan Chaudhary, 33; Shreejit Gaikwad, 32; Suryakant Shinde, 32; and Kishan Shelar, 53. According to the police, the incident occurred on March 19 at around 3.00 pm. The four unknown men entered the Balaji Gold Jewellery shop, claiming to be officers from the Intelligence Bureau from Delhi.

They conducted a ‘fake raid' and demanded Rs 25 lakh from the jewellery shop owner, Shankar Singh Rathod, 39, who managed to give them Rs 11.50 lakh, said police. Moments later, Rathod inquired about the officers with his contacts and found there were no such officers visiting Mumbai from Delhi. "He then immediately approached the VP Road police and registered the FIR," said an officer.

According to the victim, they threatened him with arrest claiming that he had been giving the gold for cash, which they said was illegal. Based on the complaint, an investigation was launched during which the police scrutinised CCTV footage from the jewellery store and the nearby areas to identify the accused. All accused were traced and arrested by the detection staff of the VP Road police on Thursday night.