As part of their modus operandi, they would target unmarried couples leaving hotels and extort money from them by posing as cops
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The Malad police have arrested two people and booked another one for extorting Rs 12,000 from a couple outside a guesthouse at Chincholi fatak by posing as cops. Investigation has revealed that as part of their modus operandi the accused would wait outside hotels and look for unmarried couples or those having extra-marital affair, and after conducting a recce of their movements, they would target them. In this case, they managed to threaten a 46-year-old Goregaon resident, who had gone to the guesthouse with his girlfriend and extort money from him.
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Police sources said the victim and her girlfriend often used to visit the guesthouse at Chincholi fatak. As per his statement, on March 24 they had gone to the guesthouse around 11 am. After they left at 2 pm, three men posing as cops waylaid him near Chincholi Bandar and started questioning him about the woman. After checking their ID cards, the trio started abusing and threatening him, and said that they would inform his wife about his affair. Meanwhile, one of them threatened to arrest him and demanded Rs 20,000 for his release. Scared, the victim gave him R12,000. The accused had even asked him not to approach the police station. However, he informed the hotel manager about it.
On April 7 when the manager spotted the trio outside the hotel, he informed the cops. Then the complainant went to the police station and identified the accused - Sandesh Maladkar, 44, and Sachin Kharbi, 38. The third accused Gopal Ghodke is still at large.
Also Read: Trio pose as clean-up marshals, extort Rs 5,000 from man in Malabar Hill
During inquiry it was revealed that earlier Maladkar used to work in a guesthouse at the Akasa beach, from where he got this idea of extorting money and then roped in the other two to conduct the crimes. Police sources said he had observed over a period of time that the couples visiting the hotel were mostly unmarried or in extra-marital affairs.
Of the three, one would identify such couples by waiting outside the Malad guesthouse and inform the other two, who would then threaten them and extort money. A police officer said, "The accused have been booked under sections 170, 34, 384 and 506 of IPC. Two of them have been arrested. After being produced in court, they were sent to police custody."
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