An interstate gang of eight members has been arrested by Sanpada Police for impersonating as cyber police from Kerala and looting a man of Rs 30 lakh. The complainant, a 25-year-old man, had gone to deposit the money at an ATM in Juinagar when the gang forcibly kidnapped him, looted the cash, and later abandoned him on Palm Beach Road.
The incident took place on the morning of May 31, around 7:45 am, when Mohammad Ramees Abdul Hameed Eidwalath, a resident of Navi Mumbai, arrived at the SBI ATM in Juinagar to deposit Rs 31.73 lakh. The gang entered the ATM claiming to be police officers, forcibly pushed Eidealath into a Maruti Ertiga car, assaulted and threatened him, and robbed the entire cash amount before leaving him stranded.
Following a complaint at Sanpada Police Station, a special investigation team was formed under the guidance of Senior Inspector Devidas Kathale, and led by Police Sub-Inspector Amol Munde. The team included Havaldars Sunil Chavan, Shrikant Narvekar, Santosh Bade, Sandip Pawar, and Constables Amol Bhosale and Gorakhnath Gaikwad. Through technical surveillance, they traced the vehicle used in the crime and detained its driver.
During questioning, the driver revealed that the accused had falsely claimed to be Kerala cyber police and borrowed the car, which they later abandoned on the Sanpada Highway.
The police then searched various lodges near Sanpada Highway Bridge and found that the accused had fled to Bengaluru. "We then traveled to Bengaluru, wherein we inspected nearly 500 lodges in the Upparpet Police Station limits, eventually locating all eight accused and arresting them within 36 hours of the crime," an officer said.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Thansir Hamsa (26), Nijas Moin (27), Johnson Sunny (45), Anwar Maheen Basha (25), Faseel Kasim (30), Mohammad Sabeeth Ashraf (25), Faseel Kasim (28), and Faseel Abdul Rehman (31). All of them are residents of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, said police.
Sanpada Police have recovered a total of Rs 30.48 lakh worth of valuables, including cash, mobile phones, the Maruti Ertiga vehicle, and amounts held in bank accounts. The arrested accused have been remanded to police custody.
