Impostor DCP and Jaipur Businessman Arrested for Rs 16 Lakh Fraud in Mumbai

The Mumbai Police Crime Branch Unit 1 on Friday arrested a Jaipur businessman and an impostor who posed as a Mumbai Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) to cheat a complainant of Rs 16 lakh. The victim, Sikander Kothari, had met the accused at Marine Drive in 2024, where they allegedly promised to use police influence to recover a failed real estate investment of Rs 98 lakh.

The arrested individuals have been identified as 46-year-old Rajasthan businessman Rajesh Bedsingh Choudhary and Mohammed Guas Khatib, also known as Raj Khatib. Khatib was already in police custody in connection with a separate, similar cheating case from the previous month when the fresh arrest was executed.

According to investigators, Kothari, a businessman who runs an Over-The-Top (OTT) platform, filed the fresh complaint after realizing he had been defrauded. Kothari had previously paid Rs 98 lakh to Jadhwani to book a flat with builder Kamal Sadhwani. However, Kothari did not receive the flat and was unable to get his money back from the developer.

In 2024, Kothari met Choudhary and another associate, Naveen Sharma, at Marine Drive. During this meeting, Choudhary and Sharma introduced Khatib to Kothari as a serving DCP within the Mumbai Police force.

To reinforce the deception, Khatib showed Kothari photographs of himself wearing a police uniform complete with stars and official insignia. Khatib claimed that he could use his positional influence in the police department to recover the Rs 98 lakh investment from the builder. Through this impersonation scheme, the accused managed to cheat Kothari of Rs 16 lakh.

Khatib had previously been arrested last month by the crime branch alongside his son, Mashab Khatib, and another associate, Shahid Kapadia. The trio was caught red-handed at a three-star hotel while attempting to defraud another individual who was seeking a loan. Following the fresh complaint lodged by Kothari, Unit 1 of the crime branch secured the arrests of both Choudhary and Khatib on Friday.