Finally, real cops get hold of fake ones in Mumbai

The menace of fake policemen continues to plague the city, as yet another impostor tried to rob a Khar-based businessman. He was caught by the locals and handed over to Bandra police.

According to the police, the latest incident took place on Wednesday, when the complainant Prabojit Singh Lambe, 28, was on his way to Bandra. Lambe, in his statement said that a man dressed as a traffic cop stopped his vehicle at a corner. He asked Lambe to produce his documents and started yelling at him for not obliging.

“He further demanded Rs500 as fine for the same,” said a police officer. However, the victim found something wrong with the ‘cop’s’ body language and behaviour, so he asked him to show his identity card. When the impostor failed to provide a satisfactory answer, Lambe raised alarm. The passers-by, who gathered at the spot, reportedly apprehended the accused. He was later handed over to the Bandra police.

The police, during the initial investigation, have identified the accused as Robert Fernandes, 37, a resident of Thane.  The cops are now trying to investigate whether the accused has been involved in other similar cases.

A similar incident was reported on Tuesday, when a 65-year-old woman from Khar, who was on her way to Andheri was robbed by three men impersonating cops. They asked her to remove her ornaments for safety’s sake as some thieves are roaming around nearby, after stabbing someone. The impostors then fled with her ornaments worth over Rs3 lakh.

At least 11 such instances of fake cops have been recorded in the Khar-Bandra area in the past month. Similar incidents were recorded earlier this month, when DNA had reported how motorists from Thane had started demanding identification proof from the traffic cops, before handing over their documents during naka bandi. The motorists started doing this, after many were robbed by people impersonating traffic cops.