How often does it happen that your eyes stop on a particular article and compel you to contemplate? That is exactly what happened when we came across a news piece stating how the Mumbai Crime Branch arrested a man who had been impersonating as an IPS Officer. Weird, isn’t it? Let’s go further into the news to understand better!
A 38 year old Rajasthani man, going by the name of Shiv Shankar Sharma was arrested by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch officials, on the charge of posing as an Indian Police Service (IPS) Officer. After receiving a complaint from a garment export businessman based in Surat, Mohammed Ehtesham Aslam Naviwala (who was kidnapped and extorted money from, by the fake IPS officer), Mumbai Crime Branch officials got alerted and what followed, literally felt like a scene based out of a high-budget action movie!
In, what could be an exciting and adventurous Crime Patrol episode, Mr. Naviwala, received a call from Shiv Shankar Sharma posing as a senior IPS officer. In the call, he talked to him about a complaint filed against him at the DRI for some customs and export-norms related breaches. Formerly creating stress in Naviwala’s mind, Sharma then offered to solve the matter through mediating and asked him to meet him at a four star hotel in Marine Drive.
When Naviwala met with Sharma at the hotel, he offered to resolve the situation in return for a hefty sum of money. Naviwala lost his cool after listening to the over-the-top demand of the “IPS officer” and got into a heated argument with Sharma and his associates, which ultimately landed his unsuspecting self into trouble!
According to a statement given by a crime branch officer anonymously, “They (then) assaulted Naviwala, abused him, and confined him to the room. They threatened and kidnapped him on gunpoint and later drove him to Gujarat to collect the ransom. He was harassed and was released only after he managed to pay Rs 16 lakh cash to the accused.”
As soon as Naviwala managed to get out of Sharma’s clutches, he initially informed Gujarat Police about the matter and later on, went to the Mumbai Police. The Marine Drive Police registered a case, after the preliminary inquiry with the hotel where they had met. Senior officials of the Mumbai Police hounded officials of Mumbai Crime Branch’s anti-extortion cell (AEC) to look into the matter due to its seriousness.
Once the matter came into AEC’s hands, they made use of technological surveillance and information from reliable sources to track down Sharma’s location in Gujarat. A team went to Gujarat personally, but Sharma’s location was changing continuously. What followed was a long 24 hour road chase from Gujarat to Bangalore, coming straight out of a Rohit Shetty movie!
“We chased him from Gujarat to Bengaluru for over 24-hours by road and eventually nabbed him in Bengaluru on Tuesday. He was brought to Mumbai and was placed under arrest” stated the official.
When asked about how Sharma came to target Naviwala, it was revealed that he had learnt through an associate about the existing DRI complaint and worked on the scheme to extort money from him.
This is not the first time that Shiv Shankar has committed such a heinous crime. Last year also, he was arrested for duping an eatery owner of several lakhs of rupees in Madhya Pradesh, imitating an IPS officer. He also reportedly duped a female police officer by making false marriage promises and later on, running away after scooting off a big amount from her.
The accused spend the unlawfully obtained money in his expansive and lavish lifestyle. He owns a car and would keep a senior IPS officer’s uniform and a cover of service pistol in the car. He would convince his victims by bragging about his alleged clout in the police department and among ministers,” stated a crime branch official
Lawfully, Sharma has been booked under 170 (impersonating a public servant), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 323 (assault), 342 (wrongful confinement), 364A (kidnapping for ransom, 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of hurt), 504 (abuse) and 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code and 3 and 25 of the Arms Act. Currently, he resides in police custody.
