New Delhi:
Seven people were arrested for allegedly impersonating Mumbai Police officers and robbing a wellness center here after taking inspiration from the Bollywood film ‘Special 26’, officials said Sunday.
The suspects were arrested from Delhi, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, they said.
Police said the incident took place on Wednesday afternoon when four people, including a woman, entered the center’s office at Netaji Subash Place Complex here after posing as police officers in Mumbai.
Under the pretense of conducting a raid, which lasted five hours, they robbed Rs 5-7 lakh, police said. The victim was threatened at gunpoint and had to call his wife, who then took Rs 5 lakh collected by the female accused, police said. In addition to cash, the accused fled with a laptop, 10 phones and bank documents belonging to the victim, police said.
“We registered a case and started looking for the suspect. The initial investigation revealed that the suspects were accompanied by a group of people standing guard outside the office.
“They were left roaming outside at the time, but didn’t go in. We went looking for them. Based on technical surveillance and local investigation, one of them was identified and arrested,” said Usha Rangnani, deputy police commissioner ( northwest).
The arrested suspect, Prashant Kumar Patil, 29, revealed that he and his six associates committed the crime. Based on his interrogation, two women – Jyoti (30) and Neha (22) were arrested from Rohini, she said.
The other two accused, Jahid Khan and Sanjay Manocha, were arrested from Mewat, while two others, Faisal and Imran, were arrested from Madhya Pradesh, it added.
“Seven of the eight suspects involved were arrested and they revealed that they were inspired by the Bollywood movie ‘Special 26’.
“Faisal, Imran, Neha and Majid had entered the office while others were standing guard. Prashant and Jahid knew the complainant, so they stood outside,” the DCP said.
Police said Prashant had a job with the central government, but he was suspended after a case was filed against him by the Bhopal Crime Branch over allegations of sanctioning loans to bogus companies. Prashant was placed in Bhopal prison where he met co-defendant Majid who was held there in a scam. They planned to rob the victim in Delhi. Neha is a computer expert and created the fake IDs and documents of the police, the DCP said.
Police recovered some of the stolen cash, phones and the laptop, along with fake IDs from Mumbai Police.