Government Railway Police officials apprehended the conman after a commuter lodged a complaint against him for extorting money
During his rounds as a ticket checker, 30-year-old Deepak Patil had managed to collect a tidy sum. Only, he was not a TC — Patil was employed with Railway Protection Force (RPF) as a sweeper. The impostor has been arrested by Government Railway Police (GRP) for allegedly extorting money from commuters. The accused, a resident of Kalwa in Thane, was posted in RPF headquarters, Mulund.
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Ticket please: Patil introduced himself as a member of the special ticket-checking staff and asked Dabhale to show his ticket. Representation pic
According to cops, on August 24 Thane inhabitant Deepak Dabhale boarded a local train to CST. The teacher inadvertently entered into the luggage compartment. Patil too stepped into the same carriage from Mulund.
Introducing himself as a member of the special ticket-checking staff from Dadar, the cheat asked Dabhale to produce his ticket. The latter presented his monthly pass. Patil insisted that the document was not valid in the luggage compartment and asked Dabhale to pay a fine of Rs 1,000. As Dabhale was not prepared to shell out the money, the accused forced him to alight at Vidyavihar station and started bullying him. After a long squabble, the impostor allowed the victim to leave, but only after the latter had coughed up Rs 400. When Dabhale demanded a receipt, Patil refused to give one.
The same day, Dabhale approached GRP, Kurla and tendered a complaint in writing against Patil. After scrutiny of CCTV footage, cops registered an FIR against the offender and apprehended him in the wee hours yesterday.
“We have arrested Patil under sections 384 (extortion), 342 (wrongful confinement), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code (IPC). He extorted money from Dabhale posing as a TC, but in actuality he is a sweeper at RPF headquarters,” said Shivaji Dhumal, senior inspector, GRP, Kurla.
A colleague of Patil told
MiD DAY that the miscreant had started extorting money in 2009 at the behest of a senior inspector at RPF who was later dismissed from service.
Precedent
On September 10, 2011, MiD DAY had reported (‘Fake TC caught ticketless’) about 28-year-old Santosh Gawde, who dropped out of school in Std VI, and had always harboured the dream of becoming a ticket collector. He decided that it was easier to resort to unlawful means to achieve his cherished goal than to acquire the necessary qualifications.
“He purchased a suit for Rs 2,100, and started posing as a ticket collector. He was doing a fine job of conning people until he was caught. Gawde’s dream run ended when Shashank Mishra, son of a retired WR Public Relations Officer, spotted him checking tickets outside the Ghatkopar railway station and dragged him to Kurla police station where a case was lodged. u00a0
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