Sanjay Sawant, who worked for encounter specialists, looted innocent people of lakhs by conducting fake raids in collusion with a local politician
The complainant, Bharat Harshi Dedhia, runs a kirana shop in Kurla West. His father had gifted him the gold biscuits on his wedding
The most sought-after informer of now retired and jailed encounter specialists had been running multiple cons on the side for years, while working for a local politician. However, his crimes were unearthed only recently, when one of his victims filed a complaint. Vile Parle police have arrested informer Sanjay Sawant, while politician Laxman Chikkaya Poojari is absconding. They looted their victims with fake raids, said officers.
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Along with Sawant, Vile Parle police have arrested Siddharth Nage, an accomplice of Poojari. Officers told mid-day that Poojari and others were involved in multiple such frauds across Maharashtra and Hyderabad.
Local politician Laxman Chikkaya Poojari, the main accused
Poojari, a Vakola resident, had floated a party, with a coconut as its symbol, and had even contested the Corporator election in 2019 from Kalina, Santacruz East. The BKC police had earlier filed a case against him, involving the same modus operandi.
Mumbai Crime: Police informer arrested for scamming people with fake raids
The complainant, Bharat Harshi Dedhia, 69, runs Tarun Maharashtra Society Kirana Shop at Laxmanrao Yadav Mandai in Kurla West. He lost 500 gms of gold biscuits in the fake raid conducted by Poojari and his co, in 2016. Dedhia needed money after demonetisation in 2016, and wanted to sell the gold biscuits.
The candidacy card of Laxman Poojari
“Around 45 years ago, my father gifted me five gold biscuits of 100 grams each as a wedding gift. After demonetisation, the rate of one gold biscuit was s Rs 3.30 lakh in the market. Then I came across Siddharth Nage and he told me that he can get Rs 3.60 lakh for a piece. I was getting Rs 30,000 extra, so I decided to sell them. Poojari and Nage took me to a jewellery shop in Vile Parle East, and then went inside in a lane. I had given them all the gold biscuits. They returned after 15-20 minutes and told me that the jeweller was ready to purchase them.
“Suddenly a kaali-peeli taxi, with three people inside, stopped by us. They told us they were police and had been looking for Poojari for many years. They seized all my gold biscuits, claiming they were stolen and left. Later, Sawant told me that the police will register a case against me, and if I wanted to get out of this situation, I would have to pay Rs 4.5 lakh. I somehow managed to arrange Rs 4.5 lakh and gave it to them,” Dedhia said.
“I didn’t go to the police then out of fear of arrest,” he added. Last month, he met social worker Shivajirao Mane and narrated the entire incident to him. “He told me that I was duped, and that they were criminals. He took me to Mantralaya and we met Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil, and submitted all the evidence.”
The FIR was registered after Walse-Patil ordered an FIR in the matter Speaking with mid-day, Mane said, “When Dedhia met me, I explained to him that he was a victim and not an accused, and they had duped him. We caught hold of Sawant first and found the photos of the other accused and they were identified. Poojari is involved in many such cases. The victims don’t want to come forward to file a complaint. In Dharavi, too, Poojari threatened two people and looted them of lakhs of rupees at gunpoint. He is a habitual criminal and uses police informers in fake raids. The informers pretend to rescue the victims and then pressurise them to not file a complaint.”
The investigating officer in the case, Sub-Inspector Prakash Zende of Vile Parle police station, said, “We have arrested Sawant alias Bhau and Nage, but main accused Poojari is absconding. We have registered the case under Sections 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy), 170 (personating a public servant), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) of the IPC.”
2016
Year the accused duped the complainant
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