Police informers held for cheating

MUMBAI: The police have arrested two former police informers along with their accomplices in a cheating case. The duo would con people by offering to sell gold bars at discounted price. Their accomplices would then pose as officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and nab them.
The accused have been identified as informers Abdul Kadar-Khan (36), Mohammad Shahadat (33) and their accomplices Sanjay Dhurav (40) and Ravindra Zanke (37) alias Rahil Shaikh.
Recently, Sanjay had approached Hemal Kakdeja (24), through a friend, who was interested in buying gold ornaments for his cousin's wedding. Sanjay called him to Vile Parle for further discussion.
On January 9, when Sanjay was sure that Kakdeja was carrying money for the ornaments, he took him to the residence of Abdul at Santa Cruz (West). After discussing the price, they collected Rs 2.57 lakh from Kakdeja. Soon, the other members of the gang entered the house by introducing themselves as DRI officers. They "arrested'' Sanjay and Abdul and took away both of them.
Kakdeja went to Abdul's residence the next day but his family members said he was not at home. They asked him not to come again. He waited for five days and then filed a police complaint at Santa Cruz police station.
Assistant police inspector Jamil Shaikh said, "The accused had committed similar crimes in Goa, Surat and Mumbai. In most of the cases, the victims didn't come forward to file the complaint as they feared that the police would take action against them for their involvement in illegal transactions.''
vijay.singh6@timesgroup.com