Mumbai: Police has unmasked a fake officer and gang who had raided an Income Tax office in Andheri, Mumbai, in the style of the movie Special 26, held the owner and employees hostage, snatched their mobile phones and held the staff hostage. According to the Income Tax and Crime Branch officials, the police have exposed the gang who had conducted a fake raid and demanded a salary of Rs 1 crore and have also claimed to have arrested the absconding accused. According to the brief details of the said case, there was a dispute between the complainant, Rajkumar Kandasamy, aged 49, who was previously employed as a driver by Santosh Uday Khopatkar and the complainant. Due to this, the complainant fired Santosh Khopatkar from his job without paying him 06 months’ salary. Angered by this, Santosh Uday Khopatkar, using the information he had about the complainant, along with 06 men and 3 women acquaintances, formed a criminal conspiracy and falsely claimed to be government officers and employees of the Income Tax and Crime Branch Department and illegally entered the office owned by the complainant. He also abducted the complainant and his wife by showing fake government identity cards and snatched the mobile phones of the complainant, his wife and 10 other employees of the office and illegally prevented them from leaving the office and abused them by threatening them with legal action by the Income Tax Department. Also, a sum of Rs. 1 crore was sought to avert the action. Therefore, the complainant filed a legal complaint against the above-mentioned unknown persons and after noting their detailed statement, a case was registered under Sections 61(2), 204, 205, 233, 140(2), 127(1), 351(2), 308(4) of the Indian Penal Code, 2023.

The accused in the said case have been arrested on the basis of technical investigation. The arrested accused are 1) Santosh Uday Khopatkar, aged 37 years, 2) Vinay Ramesh More, aged 37 years, 3) Prem Kisan Sabnani, aged 50 years, 4) Pragya Harish Main, aged 27 years, 5) Reshma Shamrao Waring, aged 41 years, 6) Shabnia Hafeez Sheikh, aged 48 years. During the interrogation of the said arrested accused, it was found that accused Nos. 7 and 8 out of the said accused are working in the Income Tax Department as Income Tax Inspector and Tax Assistant respectively and the said accused along with accused Nos. 02 to 06 and accused Nos. 09 and 10 went to the office of the complainant and on getting information about their involvement in the said criminal conspiracy, the said accused were searched and arrested in the present case on 10th September. The arrested accused include 7) Suresh Mahavir Prasad Mishra, aged 57 years (Income Tax Inspector)8) Sunil Manohar Gore, age 59 years (Tax Assistant)9) Jatu alias Jitendra Namdev More, age 52 years 10) Ashok Vithoba Shinde, age 57 years are involved. This operation has been carried out by DCP Datta Nalawade under the leadership of Mumbai Police Commissioner Devin Bharti and the accused have been arrested and the gang has been exposed. DCP Datta Nalawade said that earlier also 6 accused were arrested in the case but the Income Tax Inspector and Assistant were also involved in it after which today more absconding accused have been arrested and the entire gang has been cracked down on.

Mumbai: Police has claimed to have recovered 09 mobile phones worth Rs 1,48,000/- from a criminal accused after uncovering 03 cases of mobile theft. On the complaint of the complainant on September 8, a case was registered at Park Site Police Station under Section 305(a) of the IPC 2023 for theft of mobile phones by entering a house. The police registered the said case and started investigation. Mumbai Police’s Nitin Jhade and his team traced the accused wanted in the case based on CCTV footage of the crime scene and its premises and technical information and arrested the accused Feroz Mohammad Shakeel Sheikh alias Choha, age 25, resident of Ambika Nagar Chal, Behind Ajwa Hotel, Upper Depot Para, Park Site, Vikhroli (West), Mumbai 79, who was on police record within 05 hours and registered a case under Section 305(a) BNS Crime No. 2 879/2026 Section 305(a) BNS
3) Crime No. 880/2026 Section 305(a) BNS
3) 03 cases were revealed. Similarly, 09 mobiles worth Rs. 1,48,000/- were recovered from the said accused after expert interrogation.

*The arrested accused Feroz Mohammad Shakeel Sheikh alias Choha, aged 25, has a total of 20 cases of theft, robbery, illegal possession of weapons registered in K-Park Site, Ghatkopar, Pant Nagar and Nirmal Nagar police stations.

The said operation was carried out under the guidance of Devin Bharti, Commissioner of Police, Mumbai, Manoj Sharma, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), Dhananjay Kulkarni, Additional Commissioner of Police, Eastern Regional Department, Chembur, Mumbai, Shri Abhay Singh Deshmukh, Deputy Commissioner of Police, East, Senior Police Inspector in-charge, Park Site Police Station, Mumbai, Ashok Lange, Assistant Police Inspector Nitin Jhade, Police Sub-Inspector Akshay Wagh, Police Havildar Vishal Goare, Police Havildar Rahul Navale, Police Constable Manoj Sarwade, Police Constable Rohidas Bhosare, Police Constable Deepak Tade.

A financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh has been handed over by the Mumbai Municipal Corporation to Anjum Shaikh, wife of late Aslam Shaikh, a resident of Sakinaka (Yadun Nagar) who lost his life in a manhole accident at Khairani Road, Kurla. Anjum Shaikh sent a letter thanking the Mayor, public representatives of all political parties and the municipal administration for the immediate help provided by Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde during this crisis and the timely assistance provided by the Corporation. After the tragedy that took place on 2 July 2026, Mayor Ritu Tawde reached out to the Shaikh family to express her condolences, recognising the needy circumstances of the family, she had immediately promised a financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh. Following these instructions, the Corporation’s ‘L’ Ward (Kurla) office followed up on the matter, ensuring completion of necessary formalities related to bank account details and inheritance documents. On August 4, 2026, an amount of ₹10 lakh was transferred directly to Anjum Shaikh’s bank account. Submitting a written acknowledgement of assistance to the Municipal Corporation, Anjum Shaikh said in her letter that the promise made by the Mayor to our family in this very difficult time has been fulfilled. I am grateful to the public representatives of all parties, office bearers, the Mayor, and the municipal officers who guided and supported this entire process. The family was deeply shocked by the tragic demise of their father Kafeel Aslam Shaikh, however, it was our duty to stand with the bereaved family. The sentiments expressed in Anjum Shaikh’s letter encourage the Municipal Corporation administration to work with greater sensitivity.