Navi Mumbai: A 44-year-old man, Pranav alias Santosh Walunje, has been arrested by Panvel city police for impersonating a high-ranking police officer of the crime branch, wearing a police uniform with three-star insignia, carrying a fake police identity card and cheating a real estate businessman from Karanjade, Panvel taluka, of Rs 2 lakh under the pretext of recovering Rs 16 lakh owed to him by his several debtors.Thereafter, the man approached two debtors in his police uniform and extorted Rs 2.75 lakh from them by threatening legal action. The police are in search of two accomplices, Mahadev Kondilkar and Nathuram Pawar, both residents of Rasayani, Raigad, for having taken Rs 2 lakh commission from the complainant for recovering his money.The accused was apprehended from Taloja on Monday. Bala Kumbhar, senior inspector of Panvel city, informed that acting on a complaint by the victim real estate businessman Satyavan Gharat (52), on June 24, an FIR of cheating was registered against Walunj and his two aides under BNS sections for the offence of wearing garb or carrying token used by public servant with fraudulent intent, cheating, criminal breach of trust and joint criminal liability.As per the complainant, in Dec last year Gharat’s friend Sandeep Ghangave, who knew about his problem of unable to recover his money stuck, had told him that he knew a senior crime branch officer who can help in recovering his money. After around 3 hours, the accused Santosh Walunje attired in police uniform with 3-star insignia on shoulders for impersonating as a police inspector had gone to Gharat’s house along with Kondilkar and Pawar. While, Walunje showed Gharat his fake police identity card, Kondilkar and Pawar introduced Walunje was a senior officer of Navi Mumbai Crime Branch and claimed that he personally knew CM Fadnavis and deputy CM Eknath Shinde and he helped people in recovering their stuck money for a commission of Rs 2 lakh. As Walunje assured Gharat that he will recover his stuck money, Gharat paid him Rs 2 lakh commission.However, Walunje did not recover Gharat’s money and instead he and his two aides threatened Gharat’s debtors Satish Sable and Vipul Keswal of legal action and extorted Rs 2.75 lakh from them. When Gharat learnt about it and asked Walunje about recovery of his money, he repeatedly gave evasive replies for around six months. Hence, suspecting a foul play, Gharat inquired with the Navi Mumbai crime branch department about Walunje, when he learnt that Walunje was not a crime branch officer. Hence, Gharat registered an FIR at Panvel city police station.
