Fake Cop Arrested for Cheating Mobile Shop Owner of Rs 1.6 Lakh in Maharashtra

In Palghar district, Maharashtra, police arrested Mohammad Faizul Abul Hasan Shaikh for impersonating a cop and cheating a mobile shop owner out of Rs 1.6 lakh. Shaikh used fake police uniforms, insignia, and fabricated documents to deceive the shop owner. The police recovered the stolen mobile phones and other fake items.

Police in Palghar district of Maharashtra have arrested a man for allegedly posing as a cop and cheating a mobile shop owner of Rs 1.6 lakh, an official said on Wednesday. Fake police insignia have been recovered from him, he said.

Mohammad Faizul Abul Hasan Shaikh (28) visited the complainant’s shop earlier this month to buy mobile phones worth Rs 1.6 lakh. Shaikh, who identified himself as a policeman, showed a fabricated record to claim that he had transferred Rs 1.1 lakh through NEFT and gave a cheque for the remaining amount, the official said. However, the shop owner’s bank statement didn’t show the payment of Rs 1.1 lakh as claimed by Shaikh. When the cheque was dishonoured, he filed a police complaint against Shaikh. The police worked on several leads and arrested Shaikh from the Valiv area on Monday. Senior inspector Jairaj Ranaware of the Valiv police station said they recovered three sets of “police uniforms”, one handcuff, a fake identity card, an airgun and other insignia of Mumbai police from his house. Besides, scanned copies of appointment letters of constables were also found there, he said, adding that they recovered all the mobile phones that Shaikh had fraudulently taken from the complainant. Shaikh is also named in another cheating case registered at Valiv police station in 2023, he said.