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.

A major tragedy was averted after an LPG cylinder caught fire in a ground-plus-two-storey structure in Mumbai’s Dharavi area, officials said on Sunday.

Four people, including two minors, suffered injuries in the fire, which occurred early on Saturday, and are currently undergoing treatment.

The incident was reported from Sion-Dharavi Link Road, Rajiv Gandhi Nagar, near Rajiv Gandhi Sports Club in Dharavi.

According to the update shared by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB), the public gathered in the area after the cylinder caught fire and extinguished the blaze before the fire brigade reached the spot.

Four persons who suffered injuries in the incident were shifted to a hospital in a police van before the arrival of the fire brigade.

Mumbai Fire Brigade, Police, and Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) were mobilised following the blaze.

The fire was extinguished by 12.10 a.m., MFB officials said.

According to hospital authorities, the injured include two minor boys, aged five and four years old, respectively.

While the four-year-old suffered eight per cent burn injuries, the five-year-old had five per cent burns.

The other two injured people suffered 15 per cent and 30 per cent burns, respectively.

A Level-I fire broke out in a commercial building on Kandiwali Station Road in Mumbai’s Kandivali West last month.

Following the incident, 11 people were safely rescued from a lodging house on the second floor, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) Mumbai Fire Brigade.

The incident was reported to the Mumbai Fire Brigade Control at around 4.14 a.m. The fire broke out at Abhirai Hotel on Kandiwali Station Road.

According to the fire brigade’s update, the blaze was confined to electrical wiring, electrical installations, wooden furniture, tarpaulin, bamboo and plastic materials at an adjacent temporary fruit stall.

The fire also affected clothes, wooden furniture and a false ceiling over an area of approximately 50 square feet on the fourth floor. Aluminium and plastic decorative sheets on the exterior side of the building were also affected.

The building is a commercial structure comprising a basement, ground floor and four upper floors. The entire building was smoke-logged during the incident.

The number of those injured in the traditional ‘Dahi Handi’ celebration across Mumbai has risen to 376, officials said on Sunday.

Out of the 376 ‘govindas’ who suffered injuries in separate incidents, 90 have been admitted to various hospitals for treatment, while 286 have been discharged.

The annual ‘Dahi Handi’ celebration is organised a day after the Janmashtami festival, which marks the birth of Lord Krishna.

The hospital-wise data showed that CT hospitals reported 183 injured ‘govindas’, with 29 admitted, 23 under treatment, and 131 discharged.

WS hospitals reported 126 injuries, with nine people admitted, 14 under treatment, and 103 discharged.

Several other injured people are currently undergoing treatment in other hospitals of the city.

The latest figures mark a significant increase from the earlier BMC update on Saturday, when 118 ‘govindas’ were reported injured across Mumbai.

A day earlier, a seven-year-old boy lost his life after a brick structure collapsed during the festivities. The incident occurred at the Ekta Welfare Society in Chikuwadi at Malvani, in Mumbai’s Malad West area.

According to reports, the event organisers had tied the safety and support ropes for the Dahi Handi to a nearby tree and a ground-floor brick column of a building under construction.

Under the tension during the attempts to break the Handi, the brick column suddenly gave way. ​The collapsing structure hit young Rudra Kadam, 7, inflicting severe head injuries. He was immediately rushed to the Malvani General Hospital, but doctors declared him brought dead.

Local police and BMC ward officials arrived at the spot shortly after receiving the news to investigate.

​In a separate incident in Old Sangvi, at Pune’s Pimpri-Chinchwad area, a 45-year-old woman, identified as Salma Salauddin Pathan, died after an iron frame set up for the celebrations collapsed on her.

The accident took place late on Saturday night following the conclusion of the event organised by the Vighnaharta Mandal. As workers were dismantling the iron arch and sound setup, a heavy metal section collapsed, striking Salma on the head. She was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors pronounced her dead on arrival. ​

Salma had attended the event with her husband, Salauddin, to support their son, Rahim Pathan, who is a volunteer for the Vighnaharta Mandal.

Demonstrating extraordinary restraint, the grieving family declined to lodge a formal complaint against the organisers, saying that the youth involved were like family and they did not wish to jeopardise their futures. ​Despite the family’s refusal to file a complaint, Senior Police Inspector Jitendra Koli of the Sangvi Police Station confirmed that a case of accidental death has been officially registered.