Five held for duping foreigner posing as customs official, cop

The Santacruz Police have arrested five men for allegedly looting two foreign nationals on the pretext of being custom officials. Police said that the incident occurred on February 11, when the accused forced themselves in the house of two Thailand nationals, claiming they are the custom officers and looted them of their valuables like iPhones and iPad, along with cash worth thousands of rupees.

According to the statement given by the complainant, he had come to India in August 2019 and was subsequently arrested by the customs officials at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport for drugs smuggling. He was released a month later and had been staying at Juhu Koliwada since, with his paramour, who was also booked for entering the country on a wrong visa.

On February 11, a few men were banging the complainant's door while calling out his name in the wee hours, and when he didn't answer, they barged in. One of the three men identified himself as a policeman, while the others claimed to be customs officials. They said that due to the ongoing investigation of the smuggling case, they had to confiscate his passport and asked him to produce the case paper. While the complainant obliged, the men seized 2 iPhones, one iPad, cash and a few documents valued at 3.33 lakh.

The men then asked the complainant to come out and visit the police station. The men then left the spot and asked him to wait at the police station, but never showed up. Upon realizing he was duped, the complainant approached Santacruz Police and lodged a complaint. Soon after the case was lodged, police scrutinised the CCTV camera footage and apprehended the five men, while one is still on the run.

The much-awaited women's special Tejaswini to soon ply in Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation. As many as 4 such women special buses will soon be added to KDMT's fleet, informed an official.

"The state transport department has sanctioned total 4 Tejaswini buses to KDMT, which will soon be added into the fleet. In next 15 to 20 days this buses will be functional for women citizens in KDMC area," said KDMT official.

The civic body has floated the tender for 5 to 6 times earlier. However, it was delayed due to lack of response and later due to Pandemic situation. However, recently the tender was passed following the response and later the purchase of buses was processed by the civic body.

"The government has sanctioned total Rs 1.20 crore for the maintenance of these buses. These buses will be exclusively plying for women passengers, will run between 7:am to 11:am and 5:pm to 9:pm," said KDMT official.

Among the 4 Tejaswini buses, each bus will be allotted to Kalyan East-West and Dombivli East-West, informed civic official.