Mumbai: When an advertising agency executive stepped out of his cab at Pali Hill on Sunday night to make a purchase, little did he know that he would be the victim of a hold-up. Three persons posing as police officers forcibly pulled him into an autorickshaw and took him from Bandra to Vakola on the Western Express Highway, where they robbed him of his mobile and ₹12,300.
The victim, however, managed to nab one of the trio with the help of some passersby who responded to his calls for help and handed him over to the police.
The 38-year-old, a resident of Walkeshwar, was on his way to a bakery at Pali Hill around 8 pm. “He wanted to buy a cake, but as the road towards Pali Hill was choked with traffic, he asked his taxi driver to wait at Lilavati Hospital and told him that he would return in a while,” said a police officer from Bandra Police Station. “Just then, two men arrived in an auto and pulled him inside. They took him towards Vakola bridge on the Western Express Highway, stopped the auto at an isolated spot and told him they were policemen. They then snatched his wallet containing ₹12,300 and his phone.”
The police officer added that the thieves also demanded ₹2 lakh more from the victim and threatened to keep harassing him if he did not comply. “As the victim had realised by then that the accused were not policemen, he caught hold of one and held on to him despite the other two’s best efforts to release him. When people started gathering, the two fled, leaving their partner in crime behind. We have arrested him,” said a police officer.
The police said the three were identified as Rehman Hussain Momin, Nilesh Godse and Prabhakar Pandey the auto driver. “We are searching for the other two accused,” said the police officer.
The thieves have been booked under Sections 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery), 385 (putting person in fear of injury in order to commit extortion), 170 (impersonating a public servant), 34 (common intention) and 364 A (kidnapping for ransom) of the Indian Penal Code.
The police said they were interrogating the arrested man to get further details, as the victim had been similarly cheated in July 2019 by conmen who had posed as officials attached to the Anti-Narcotics Cell.