Woman cop among 3 held after Mumbai businessman robbed of Rs 10 lakh at railway station

Mumbai, Sep 4 (PTI) Three persons including a woman Government Railway Police (GRP) official have been arrested after two men posing as policemen robbed a businessman of Rs 10.5 lakh at the Bandra Railway Terminus in the city.

It was a second incident over the last fortnight in the city where police personnel were found involved in such crimes.

The arrested woman assistant sub-inspector (ASI) along with the senior inspector of the Bandra railway police station were also suspended following the latest incident which took place on Monday evening, officials said.

A total of eight accused were identified in the case, and a search was on for the remaining five, said a police official.

As per complainant Vikash Gupta, a city-based garment trader, a man named Zahir Ahmed persuaded him to get into the import of electronic items and called him for a meeting at the Bandra Terminus. He also asked Gupta to carry Rs 10.5 lakh in cash.

At the station, Nilesh Kalsulkar (45) and Pravin Shukla (32), who posed as policemen, accosted him and enquired about the contents of the bag he was carrying. Gupta told them he has a cloth shop in Mumbai's Malad area and was going to Gujarat to buy garments.

The two allegedly started threatening Gupta, who got scared. The duo then fled with the bag, the police official said.

After Gupta filed a complaint, a case was registered at the Bandra railway police station. Police zeroed in on Kalsulkar and Pravin Shukla on the basis of CCTV footage and technical analysis, and arrested the duo on Tuesday, the official said.

Investigation revealed that Vijaya Ingawale, assistant sub-inspector at the Bandra railway police station, was involved in the conspiracy, and she too was arrested, he said.

The three were booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections for `personating as public servant', `criminal conspiracy' and `criminal breach of trust'.

After the involvement of the ASI came to light, the Railway Police Commissioner suspended Bandra railway police station's senior inspector, officials said.

Last month, a 37-year-old jeweler from Rajasthan was abused in front of his seven-year-old daughter before being robbed of Rs 30,000 by some persons including three GRP personnel.

The process to arrest them was underway as their bail applications have been rejected, said Railway Police Commissioner Rakesh Kalasagar.

"We have taken serious note of such incidents. This happened in the name of bag checking, " he told reporters.

"There is an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for all these things. Whoever is not following the SOP, we will take serious action against them," commissioner Shukla added. PTI DC GK KRK