Informer outwits four police teams in Mumbai

For long, they have been the eyes and ears of the police, tipping them off about crimes. But their experience with the force seems to have taught them a thing or two about using their positions of influence to outwit the very people they serve.

A police informer recently took not just the Mumbai Police and its crime branch but also the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) for a ride by feeding all of them the same information and raking in handsome moolah in return. The police teams, meanwhile, were too busy trying to outdo each other in catching the culprits to realise that the informer (identity withheld) had made a few quick bucks at their expense.

According to sources, the incident happened on Wednesday when the khabri informed the Nehru Nagar police station that a huge consignment of arms was going to land at Kurla’s Saibaba Nagar.

He passed on the same tip to officials from the Kurla police station, the ATS and the crime branch. Anticipating a major catch, all teams paid him huge sums of money.

The cache was eventually seized by the Nehru Nagar police, who managed to reach the spot first. “The Nehru Nagar police managed to outdo their counterparts as one of their constables was familiar with the area’s topography,” said a police source.

The other teams missed by a whisker. The Kurla police took the nitpicker’s approach and decided to plan the ‘major operation’ down to the last detail. A scramble for bullet-proof jackets led to a delay in reaching the spot.

Similarly, the ATS and crime branch teams, which reached the spot later, learned that the accused — Sahil Khan, 29, and Mohammed Irfan, 35 — had been taken into custody by the Nehru Nagar police. Four pistols and 23 live cartridges were recovered from them. Two days later, another consignment of arms was recovered — by the Kurla police — based on the inputs given by the arrested duo.