Posing as FDA men, 6 dupe 28 restaurateurs

Two men who were posing as Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials and extorting money from unsuspecting restaurant owners in Kurla were arrested on Sunday night.

Two men who were posing as Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials and extorting money from unsuspecting restaurant owners in Kurla were arrested on Sunday night.
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Abdul Shakoor Sheikh (30) and Suresh Yadav (20) were nabbed while they were trying to dupe Junikya Mohammed Salim, the owner of Kurla's Deluxe restaurant, while four of their accomplices managed to run away.
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The six accused have so far duped 28 restaurants of around Rs 25,000 each.
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They would travel in a hired Tata Innova (MH041744) and pretend to be the officers from the FDA, press and the police.
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"At 1.30 am on Monday, six people came to my restaurant claiming to be FDA officials working with the police and the press. It sounded fishy, so I immediately informed the Kurla police," said Salim.

The accused asked Salim for money after saying that he had a licence to run the restaurant till 11 pm and not 1.30 am.
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Said another restaurant owner from Kurla who too was almost duped, "I was lucky that my restaurant was almost shut when the extortionists came. So, they were unable to extort money from me."
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Many complaints

Mohandas Shetty, vice president of Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association, revealed that they'd received such complaints from their members earlier too.
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"But we were unable to trap them," he said. Vijay Balkrishna Bagwe, senior inspector of Kurla police station, confirmed the incident.
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"The accused had cameras and few 'press' ID cards. Extortion charges have been registered against the two arrested men," he said.
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After the incident, several restaurateurs have come forward with their complaints. "We have got about five calls from restaurateurs claiming that they too have been duped by these extortionists," said Bagwe.

Spot an FDA official
Check the ID card
A restaurant owner u00a0should know the local controlling officer so that they can contact himu00a0
Verify the name of the officers from the FDA office

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