A ‘raid’ by five ‘anti-corruption officers’ in Thane earlier this month turned out to be a revenge bid against the victim on behalf of his ex-girlfriend.
According to the police, the complainant, Allwyn Xavier (39), is a teacher working with Excel Commerce Coaching Classes. On April 28, when Mr. Xavier was teaching, five men barged into the classroom and identified themselves as officers with the Maharashtra Anti Corruption Bureau. They told him they were raiding the premises, and demanded that he accompany them. However, Mr. Xavier resisted and raised an alarm, after which they fled the scene. A complaint was registered with the Naupada police.
“While investigating the case, we scanned CCTV camera footage of the area and saw the accused speaking on their cell phones before barging into the classes. We obtained data from the corresponding cell towers and isolated five numbers seen moving together before and after the incident as per cellular location mapping. Using these details, we picked up the five accused for questioning,” an officer with the Naupada police said.
One of the men, Thane resident Mayur Rane, allegedly told the police that he had recently become close to Mr. Xavier’s ex-girlfriend, with whom Mr. Xavier broke up in December last year after a five-year relationship. The woman allegedly told Mr. Rane that she had suffered because of Mr. Xavier, and Mr. Rane decided to take revenge.
He and the other men, Manojkumar Prasad, Mohit Verma, Mithilesh Mukhiya and Suraj Pawar, all four residents of Andheri, were arrested on Sunday night. They were charged with house trespass, impersonating a public servant and violence by unlawful assembly under the Indian Penal Code.
“We suspect that they planned to kidnap Mr. Xavier and extort money from him, but lost their nerve after he raised an alarm. We are conducting further inquiries into the matter and are verifying their claims,” Deputy Commissioner of Police D S Swami, Zone I, Thane Police, said. He said inquiries so far have not revealed active participation on part of the ex-girlfriend.
