Navi Mumbai (January 8, 2025): A contractual driver working at the Income Tax Department in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) was arrested for posing a fake Income Tax officer. The accused was arrested by the Crime Branch’s Unit 3 police in Taloja on Tuesday. Several fake documents, including identity cards, stamps, appointment letters, and other materials, were seized from the accused.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Avinash Ambure said during a press conference on Wednesday that investigations are ongoing to determine how many people were duped by the accused, who promised jobs in the Income Tax Department. The accused, identified as Rinku Sharma, has been remanded to five days of police custody after being produced before a Vasai court.
The fraud came to light when Safruddin Khan, a 49-year-old resident of Ajmeri Building in Santosh Bhawan, reported that his daughter had been cheated of Rs 15 lakh under the pretext of securing a job in the Income Tax Department. Sharma and another individual, Anshu Pasi, had promised to employ her in the department and provided her with a fake identity card and a training letter. However, they never employed her and defrauded her financially. The Pelhar police had registered a case on December 13, which was taken over by Unit 3 of the Crime Branch.
During the investigation, the Crime Branch's Unit 3 received information that Sharma was in Taloja. Police officers set up a trap and arrested him on Tuesday. A search of the accused’s premises led to the recovery of 28 fake Income Tax Department ID cards, several stamps, appointment letters, and other counterfeit documents. Following the arrest, several victims who had been defrauded gathered at the Crime Branch office.
Preliminary investigations revealed that at least 40 to 42 victims, including educated unemployed youth and young women, had been defrauded of more than Rs 2 crore through fake Income Tax inspector ID cards and appointment letters.
Sharma had been working as a driver for senior Income Tax officials on a contractual basis and had misused their visiting cards and photographs to deceive people. He also showed fake ID cards claiming to be CBI police commissioners and senior Income Tax officers. Sharma and his associates had used a yellow amber light on a car while moving around the Vasai-Virar area to dupe individuals.
The operation was led by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Avinash Ambure, under the guidance of Assistant Commissioner of Police Madan Ballal, Police Inspector Pramod Badakh, and other officers from the Crime Branch and Cyber Cell.