Mumbai: Gang posing as food officers and duping traders busted

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 6 (ANI): Mumbai Police on Tuesday apprehended a gang of fraudsters accused of duping traders, by impersonating as food safety officers, police sources informed.
The accused were identified as 25-year-old Dharmesh Prasad Shinde, a resident of Kandivali’s Singh Estate Thakur Village and 35-year-old Avinash Gaikwad, a resident of Charkop.
Deputy Comissioner of Police (DCP) Smita Patil said, “Both of them posed as fake food safety officers and raided more than 70 places in the city, extorting traders”.
“Based on the complaint of a shopkeeper, Mumbai’s Kasturba Marg police laid a trap and arrested the two accused persons who, posing as food safety officers, raided traders’ establishments alleging quality issues with their grains and extorting hefty amounts for not taking action,” the DCP further informed.
On the modus operandi, she further said, “Both of them used to drive in a car with a Maharashtra government sticker and show the fake ids of food safety officers to shopkeepers and hotel owners in order not to arouse any doubts.”
The police reportedly seized Rs 5,000 in cash from them, along with mobile phones and bogus ID cards of the food safety officers, some forms of the Food department, the car they travelled in, and a Maharashtra government sticker.
As per police sources, “The name of the accused surfaced in more than 70 cases.”
Further investigation was underway. (ANI)