Eight including constable held for posing as crime branch men, looting Rs 25 lakh from hotelier

Eight persons including a retired police personnel and a serving constable have been arrested for allegedly posing as crime branch officers and robbing a cafe owner of Rs 25 lakh, city police said on Thursday.

Eight persons including a retired police personnel and a serving constable have been arrested for allegedly posing as crime branch officers and robbing a cafe owner of Rs 25 lakh, city police said on Thursday. The complainant, who runs a popular cafe in Matunga area, told police that six persons visited his house near the Sion hospital a few days ago, claiming to be from the Mumbai police's crime branch.

They had information that he had kept black money at home for use in the ongoing elections, they told him. The hotelier told them that he had only Rs 25 lakh in cash which had nothing to do with the elections, but the accused seized the cash and left after threatening to implicate him in a false case, the complaint said.

After he approached the Sion police station, probe started and eight persons including a serving police constable and a retired police personnel were nabbed on Tuesday and Wednesday, the official said.

The accused constable works as a police driver, while the retired policeman too belonged to the same motor vehicle department of police, he said.

A court has remanded the accused in police custody till May 21.