The racket was orchestrated by a sub-contractor who would provide tourist vehicle drivers with fake passes to bypass the Sea Link and get free parking at airports
The Property cell of the Mumbai Crime branch claims to have busted a racket of fake passes being used at toll stations and Pay and Park locations in the city.u00a0
A parking sub-contractor allegedly printed the fake passes, which were issued to people and used at the Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL), parking lots at airports, Thane-Bhiwandi bypass and various other parking areas in the city.
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Faking it: The drivers would show the fake passes at BWSL toll booths and then would claim the original amount for the passes from their respective tourism company. Representation pic
According to the police, Sub-Inspector Laxmikant Salunkhe and Assistant Police Inspector Nitin Patil of the Property cell had got a tip-off about Jagdambaprasad Mishra (40), a sub-contractor of A A Auctioners, who had got the contract for Pay and Park in the city. “Mishra had the sub-contract for the south Mumbai and Colaba areas where many tourists visit on a daily basis,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (crime), Himanshu Roy.
Mishra had become friendly with the drivers of tourist vehicles who frequented the south Mumbai and Colaba region. “After becoming acquainted with the drivers, Mishra told them that he can print duplicate passes for the BWSL, parking lots of both domestic and international airport terminals and also for the Thane-Bhiwandi bypass road,” said Nandkumar Gopale, police inspector, Property cell.
Accordingly, Mishra started providing passes to drivers at discount, who would in turn claim the original amount for the passes from their respective tourism company.
“The drivers would show the passes at BWSL toll booths. At airport parking lots, they would tell parking attendants that they would pay for parking after receiving the party they had come to collect. However, while leaving, they would show the fake receipt provided by Mishra,” said Patil.
The police said Mishra had been giving duplicate passes to the drivers for the last two years and the estimated value of losses to the state could be crores of rupees. The cops have recovered Rs 27 lakh worth of passes from Mishra and have also arrested a Somnath Mazi who used to print the fake passes.u00a0
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