Gang of fake cops busted

A notorious gang involved in series of crimes such as shootout, extortion, kidnapping, dacoity, vehicle thefts and looting people posing as policemen have been arrested by the Mumbai police’s Crime Branch.

Two of the four gang members have more than 50 criminal cases registered against them and are better known as “jail birds”.

The arrested gang members have been identified as Royal Edward Sequeira alias Roy (32), Mohammad Mehboob Abdul Hamid Shaikh (27), Deepak Tersu Singh(26), all residents of Thane rural and Anuj Gangaram Chougule (22), resident of Mahalaxmi.

Joint Commissioner of Police Himanshu Roy said as per a tip-off that a notorious gang involved in several serious offences would be arriving near Hindustan petrol pump at Kurla to commit a dacoity at a jeweller’s office on Wednesday, a trap was laid by the anti-robbery squad (ARS) of crime branch and the gang was apprehended. “A country-made firearm, live cartridges, two choppers and other dacoity tools were seized from them. We had also seized a photograph of Roy, wherein he was wearing a police uniform and a fake police ID card bearing name of Vijay Ganesh Pawar. A fake driving license was alos seized from Chougule,” said senor inspector Praful Bhosale.  The car and the bike used by them were stolen from Khar and Marine Drive areas. “Roy and Chougule have more than 50 cases registered against them and were also known as Jail Birds. They had come out of the jail in March.

They have also stolen several vehicles and had used them in crimes,” said JCP Roy.