In a shocking case of impersonation and robbery, three men posing as Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials forcibly seized two trucks transporting betel nuts near the Yeola toll plaza and robbed the truck drivers. The accused brought the trucks to the FDA office premises at Udyog Bhavan in Satpur, claiming it was part of an official operation. However, the entire act was a scam.
According to the police, the incident took place around 2 am on Sunday (May 11). The accused—Charudatta Trimbak Bhingarkar (37), Mayur Ashok Divte (32), and Naveen Ashok Sonawane (35)—are private informants known to some members of the FDA team. But this time, they carried out the act without informing the actual FDA officials.
They stopped the trucks by claiming they were FDA officers and took away the drivers' mobile phones, truck keys, vehicle documents, and other belongings worth around Rs 20,000. They even transported the trucks to Udyog Bhavan, where they forcibly detained the drivers and looted them.
Manishankar Brijmohan Mishra, one of the affected persons, filed a complaint at the Satpur Police Station. The Crime Branch’s Unit-1, led by PI Madhukar Kad, launched a parallel investigation. Acting on a tip-off, teams headed by API Hiraman Bhoye and PSI Sudam Sangle laid traps at different locations across the city.
The first arrests were made at Garware Point, where police nabbed Bhingarkar and Divte. Later, Sonawane was arrested at Sharanpur Road near Tilakwadi Signal. During interrogation, all three confessed to the crime.
Police recovered the vehicle used in the robbery, mobile phones, truck documents, keys, driver's licenses, and receipts related to betel nut goods worth nearly Rs 4.92 lakh. The accused have been handed over to Satpur Police for further investigation.
Officials are now probing whether similar incidents have occurred in the past and if more people are involved in this impersonation racket.