Mumbai: The four accused, arrested on Wednesday for allegedly trying to dupe a Maharashtra Police DCP by offering to facilitate a posting of his choice for a price, had contacted several police officers with the same offer.
The police said on Friday that the Vidyasagar Hirmukhe, Kishore Mali, Vishal Ombale and Virendra Singh Yadav were arrested by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch’s Unit VIII from Sahara Star hotel in Andheri on Wednesday. The accused had contacted DCP Namdeo Chavan, currently posted with Solapur Police, with their offer. Mr. Chavan informed the Crime Branch of this offer, leading to their arrests.
Crime Branch officers said preliminary interrogation and as an analysis of their Call Data Records have indicated that they were casting their net all over the State. “Hirmukhe, Mali and Ombale had contacted several police officers across ranks and posted at various commissionerates. We are verifying whether any of these policemen had accepted their offer and were fooled into paying them,” a Crime Branch officer said.
Investigating officers said each accused had a specific role in the well-planned racket. “Hirmukhe was earlier posted with the Home Department and was in touch with his former colleagues. He would also visit Mantralaya and other government offices regularly. He was in a position to know which officers were up for transfers or promotions, and used this to contact suitable targets. Mali, who hails from Solapur, had contacted officers from Solapur, including Mr. Chavan, while Ombale contacted officers from Pune. He is a smooth talker and was instrumental in selling the con. He has six cases of cheating registered against him with Pune Police,” another officer said.
They said Yadav, who hails from Delhi, would convince targets that the accused were well connected. “Yadav claimed to be a big player in Delhi political circles. He would regularly visit government establishments, meet officers on some pretext or the other, and collect their visiting cards. He would show these cards to others, claiming to know those officers well. The other three accused told their targets that if everything else failed, Yadav would pull strings in Delhi to get them their postings. The accused even offered a refund if they were unable to deliver,” an officer said.
Joint CP (Crime) Sanjay Saxena said, “We are still not certain if the accused were indeed in a position to facilitate postings. We’re conducting searches at accused’s residences and will also be sending teams to Delhi and other locations.”
