Mumbai, Sep 6: A crime resembling the plot of the Bollywood film “Special 26” came to light in Mumbai, where a businessman was kidnapped and threatened with arrest by a gang posing as Income Tax and Crime Branch officials and demanding Rs 1 crore to settle the matter.

The Andheri police have arrested six suspects in connection with the case, while the victim’s former driver has also been found to be involved in the alleged conspiracy.

The driver was reportedly dismissed from his job around a year ago and is suspected to have provided crucial information about the businessman to the other accused.

Following the complaint, the Andheri Police Station team launched an investigation and, on September 4, 2026, registered a case against nine unidentified accused.

Six suspects were subsequently arrested from Mumbai and Pune.

The arrested accused have been identified as Santosh Uday Khopatkar, 37, Vinay Ramesh More, 37, Prem Kishan Sabnani, 50, Pragya Harish Main, 27, Reshma Shamrao Warang, 41, and Sabina Hafiz Shaikh, 48.

The three other accused, identified as Shabina Shaikh, 48, Jitendra More and Ashok Shinde, 57, are currently absconding, and police teams are conducting searches to trace and arrest them.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Datta Nalawade said that the police also found that three other similar cases had previously been registered against accused Sabnani.

According to the police, the gang allegedly targeted different individuals in separate incidents and carried out crimes using a similar method.

The incident took place on July 17, 2026.

The victim, identified as 49-year-old Rajkumar Kandasamy, is a businessman from Sakinaka and runs a business dealing in eye equipment in Chakala, Andheri East.

The sequence of events began when the victim’s office employee, Gyan Subhash Nainar, received a panicked phone call informing him that Income Tax and Crime Branch officials had allegedly raided the office.

The fake officials reportedly confiscated the mobile phones of all 11 employees present at the office and disabled the CCTV cameras to prevent the incident from being recorded.

Soon afterwards, an unidentified caller contacted the businessman and claimed to be an Income Tax official.

“I am calling from Income Tax. Your office is being raided. Come immediately, or we will take you away,” the caller allegedly told the businessman.

Alarmed by the threat, the businessman and his wife, Priya, immediately ordered an Uber cab to reach the office. However, when they reached the gate of their residential society, two suspects riding a motorcycle allegedly approached them.

One of the men reportedly showed a fake identity card and claimed to be an Income Tax officer. The accused allegedly threatened the couple and forced them into the cab they had booked. The suspects then allegedly snatched their mobile phones.

While the cab was travelling towards the office, the accused reportedly signalled a female associate and other male accomplices to follow them. The businessman and his wife were subsequently taken to the accused’s office against their will.

When the couple reached the location, six men and three women were allegedly present and introduced themselves as members of an investigation team. One of the accused reportedly produced a fake search warrant and obtained the businessman’s signature on it.

The accused allegedly invoked petty cash regulations and demanded Rs 1.70 lakh in cash from the businessman. They also threatened him with a penalty of Rs 1.44 crore.

Another accused subsequently demanded Rs 1 crore, allegedly claiming that the amount would settle the matter and help the businessman avoid arrest.

When the businessman demanded an official legal notice in connection with the alleged raid, the accused allegedly abused him and threatened him with serious consequences before leaving the premises.

After the accused left, the businessman contacted his chartered accountant and officials of the Income Tax Department. It was only then that he realised that the entire raid was fake and that he had been targeted by a gang impersonating government officials.

Following the revelation, the businessman approached the Andheri Police Station and lodged a complaint, prompting police to register a case and begin a detailed investigation into the alleged kidnapping, impersonation and extortion.

A case was registered against the accused under Sections 204, 205, 333, 140 (2), 127 (1), 351 (2) and 308 (4) of the IPC. After the registration of the case, Assistant Police Inspector Ramdas Kadam and his team examined CCTV footage from around 50 locations as part of efforts to identify and trace the accused.

The investigation led police teams to Mumbai and Pune, where six suspects were arrested. Police are continuing their efforts to locate the three remaining accused.

Nagpur, Sep 5: A 38-year-old woman died in Maharashtra’s Nagpur after she was allegedly assaulted by her husband during a heated argument over her decision to attend a dance class instead of preparing food at home, police said.

The incident came to light after the woman’s condition deteriorated following the alleged domestic violence.

Police initially treated the death as accidental, but a post-mortem examination reportedly revealed severe injuries, prompting them to register a murder case and arrest the woman’s 41-year-old husband.

The victim has been identified as Yamini Krishna Lal Yadav, while her husband and alleged accused is Krishna Lal Yadav. The couple has two young children.

According to the police, Krishna Lal returned home from work and asked Yamini to prepare food for him and their children. However, Yamini was reportedly getting ready to attend a dance class organised within their housing society and declined to cook at that time.

What began as a domestic disagreement allegedly turned violent. Police said Krishna Lal was under the influence of alcohol when the argument escalated and he allegedly assaulted Yamini, attacking her around the neck and abdomen. The incident reportedly took place in front of their two terrified children.

According to NDTV, after the alleged assault, Yamini complained of intense pain in her neck and abdomen. She reportedly asked her husband to bring painkillers to ease her discomfort. Krishna Lal went to a nearby medical shop, but it was closed, following which he returned home without the medicine.

Yamini’s condition subsequently worsened. Her abdomen reportedly began swelling, indicating serious internal injuries. She was eventually taken to a hospital for treatment, but doctors could not save her and she died during treatment.

Following her death, police initially registered a case of accidental death and sent the body for post-mortem examination as part of the standard procedure.

The medical examination, however, raised serious questions about the circumstances surrounding her death. The post-mortem reportedly found a fractured neck bone along with severe injuries to the intestines and other internal organs.

Yamini’s brother said the family initially believed that she had died under tragic circumstances. However, the findings in the post-mortem report suggested that she had suffered severe violence and there were signs of strangulation.

Speaking to reporters, he said the family was in Mumbai when they received the news of Yamini’s death.

“We were in Mumbai when we received a phone call informing us that my sister had passed away. The post-mortem report revealed that she had been strangled and had suffered injuries to her abdomen. It showed that she had been attacked in the stomach. Based on the findings, the police immediately registered an FIR and arrested my brother-in-law, Krishna Lal Yadav. He was booked under Section 302 for murder,” he said.

Yamini’s brother further said that the couple had experienced arguments in the past as well. He said his sister had occasionally spoken to him about their domestic disputes, but had discouraged the family from intervening.

He recalled that whenever relatives suggested stepping in, Yamini would tell them that it was a family matter and that their intervention could create further problems for her at home.

The family, he said, had therefore considered the earlier disputes to be routine marital disagreements and did not anticipate that the situation could turn fatal.

After examining the post-mortem findings, police questioned Krishna Lal and subsequently arrested him. A murder case has been registered against him, and further investigation is underway to establish the sequence of events and circumstances leading to Yamini’s death.

New Delhi, Sep 5: Self-styled “influencer” Swatantra Bharadwaj, who claimed to have physically assaulted a student protestor’s father during the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led Jantar Mantar demonstration, was sent to one day police custody on Saturday after being arrested by the Delhi Police.

A day earlier, Bharadwaj was detained by Delhi Police in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district.

On Friday, Delhi Police had assured to arrest the accused under sections of the POCSO Act, the SC/ST Act and attempt to murder, within 72 hours, following an agitation by the CJP outside the Parliament Street Police Station in New Delhi.

The CJP’s agitation was also joined by Azad Samaj Party chief and MP Chandra Shekhar, Purnea MP Pappu Yadav and Indian Youth Congress.

A controversy erupted after Bharadwaj, in a purported viral video, allegedly claimed to have assaulted the father of a minor protester, Nishu Azad, during the demonstration at Jantar Mantar and boasted that he was let off by the Delhi Police as he has “political connections”.

The agitators had sought the registration of an FIR against Swatantra Bharadwaj, under stringent sections and immediate arrest of the accused.

Meanwhile, Union Minister and LJP-RV chief Chirag Paswan, on Friday, claimed that his name has been “misused” by the accused in the purported viral video.

Paswan said that he has lodged an official complaint against the accused, identified as Swatantra Bharadwaj, and will ensure justice to the minor victim and her family.

“Understanding the seriousness of this matter, and because that person has misused my name along with the names of several politicians, I have filed an official complaint against him. At the same time, I have urged the Delhi Police that there should be a fair investigation into this matter,” he told reporters in Patna.

Moreover, the LJP-RV chief stated: “Me and my party takes the responsibility to ensure justice to them because allegations have been put on me that may be due to my support, along with that of other politicians; action was not taken against the accused. So now we will ensure that the truth comes out and also ensure strict punishment for the accused who was openly mocking the legal system.”