Mumbai Police have arrested 10 people, including two serving Income Tax officials, in connection with an alleged fake Income Tax raid at a company in Chakala, where a former driver and his associates reportedly demanded Rs 1 crore from the business owner.
The alleged raid took place on July 17 at Two M Ophthotronics Pvt Ltd in Sahar Cargo Estate. Police registered a case on September 4 after company owner Rajkumar Kandasami complained that a group claiming to be Income Tax officials had entered the office, questioned employees and sought money to settle a purported tax case.
According to the police complaint, employees informed Kandasami that Income Tax officials had arrived at the office. Two men in plain clothes later allegedly approached Kandasami and his wife near their home, showed an identity card and took them to the company in an aggregator cab.
The group allegedly examined company documents, questioned staff about cash transactions and took away the mobile phones of Kandasami, his wife and employees. Investigators said the accused also produced a purported search warrant and obtained Kandasami’s signature on it.
The alleged team then threatened the company owner with a substantial penalty and offered to settle the purported tax matter for Rs 1 crore. The demand was not paid after Kandasami asked the group to produce the official authorisation for the raid. Police said the group could not provide the documents and left after spending about three hours at the premises.
Kandasami later contacted his chartered accountant and learned that the Income Tax department had not ordered a raid at the company, according to the police account.
Police said the alleged operation was masterminded by former company driver Santosh Khopatkar, 37, who had been dismissed about three months earlier. Investigators allege that Khopatkar provided information about the company and approached the two Income Tax officials for assistance in targeting his former employer.
The arrested officials have been identified as Income Tax inspector Sureshkumar Mishra, 57, posted at the Piramal Chamber office in Lalbaug, and tax assistant Sunil Gore, 59, posted at Kautilya Bhavan in the Bandra-Kurla Complex. Police allege that the two officials had also conducted a similar raid at a company in Manpada and demanded Rs 65 lakh.
Those arrested earlier in the Chakala case include Khopatkar, Vinay More, Prem Sabnani, Pragnya M, Reshma Shyamrao Warang and Shabina Shaikh. Police also took custody of Jitendra More of Thane and Ashok Shinde of Vile Parle West on Thursday. The two were already in judicial custody in connection with the Manpada case.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (West Zone-3) Datta Nalawade said investigators were examining the alleged conspiracy and the role of each accused. A team led by senior police officers analysed call records, mobile numbers, location data and footage from government and private CCTV cameras.
Police are examining seized phones for calls, chats, WhatsApp messages and financial transactions. Investigators are also trying to identify other alleged associates and establish how the group planned and carried out the purported raid.
