The three accused, who were targeting those peeing in public, had not surrendered their ID cards and were using those to extort money
The three former clean-up marshals in police custody. Pic/Rajesh Gupta
The Vikhroli police arrested three former clean-up marshals of the BMC yesterday for extorting money from motorists who would stop on the Eastern Express Highway to urinate.
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The police said the accused had not surrendered their identity cards to the security agency and were using the same to extort money.
The accused - Imran Mubarak Shaikh (28), Naved Shaikh (28) and Arbaaz Ansar (21) - are residents of Govandi and have been sent to judicial custody for seven days. One of their associates, identified as Ganesh, fled from the spot when the police swooped down on the trio. Officers have recovered Rs 900 from them.
Highway extortion
The police said that on June 12 they received a complaint from a tempo driver, Dilip Sawant, saying that four men claiming to be clean-up
marshals had taken Rs 2,500 from him.
Sawant added that he had stopped near a dumping ground to urinate when the four men approached him. They flashed their ID cards and demanded Rs 1,000 from him for urinating in public. When he refused to pay, the group argued with him. After a heated altercation, the accused dug into his pockets and took Rs 2,500.
Following the complaint, the police started patrolling the spot, and on the second day, they arrested the trio, found loitering suspiciously on the highway.
More complaints
The accused told the police that they were working with Hunter Security Force, hired by BMC for Chembur and Govandi. The agency had sacked them after receiving a series of similar complaints against them.
Senior Inspector Sridhar Hanchate said, "We suspect that the accused are involved in more such cases. Though we have not received other complaints, there are chances that many would have paid these guys."
Rs 900 Amount recovered from the trio
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