Real cops roll up sleeves to nab fakes

With two more incidents of fake cops cheating people being reported in Andheri on Wednesday, the ‘real police’ have formed special teams which will be moving around the areas where these crimes have been reported in civil dress to nab the ‘fake cops’.

The cops have hired private vehicles to move around, so that the impostors don’t hide themselves, which they would normally do on seeing a police vehicle.

The officials also said that woman sleuths are moving around bedecked with ornaments in areas where such incidents have been reported to be happening routinely, so as to lure the culprits into a trap.

So far, around 20 cases of fake cops duping residents and passers-by, especially elderly women in western suburbs have come to light in less than a month.

DNA, which has been following up on this growing menace, had earlier reported how motorists from Thane had started demanding proof of identification from the traffic cops, before handing over their documents for checks during naka-bandis. The motorists started demanding proof after many were duped by the people impersonating traffic cops.

“We are doing the best we can to arrest the fake cops operating in our area,” said senior police inspector Sharad Borse, of Versova police station.

In a recent case, three men dressed in khaki stopped an elderly lady in Versova area, asking her to remove all her ornaments, as some thieves are roaming around in the area. The police said that the victim initially refused, but they convinced her to remove and hand over the ornaments to them.

“The complainant told us that she apparently got hypnotised and realised what had happened only 10 minutes later,” said an officer involved with the investigation of the case.

The officials said that they are also on look out for white colour gypsy cars, as the impostors are said to have used them on a couple of occasions.