The three accused came to the dairy shop to buy cottage cheese and said that the product had powder mixed in it and was adulterated. They shot a few videos of the product and told the employee that the owner would be fined ₹2 lakh and imprisoned for at least a year.
Two men were arrested on Wednesday for posing as Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspectors and trying to extort ₹2 lakh from a dairy owner.
According to the police, the accused, Santosh Gavas, resident of Khan Compound, Dahisar East, and two accomplices on October 3 had purchased 200 grams of cottage cheese. The men then inspected the cottage cheese and said that the product had powder mixed in it and was adulterated. They shot a few videos of the product and told the employee that the owner would be fined ₹2 lakh and imprisoned for at least a year.
The employee then called the complainant, Santosh Hauslaprasad Dubey, who had gone for char dham yatra, and informed him about the matter.
Dubey told the police that when he spoke to the accused, the latter shouted at him for selling duplicate cottage cheese and for not being present at the shop during the surprise check by the FDA. “When Dubey tried to tell him that he would be present tomorrow, the accused threatened Dubey to seal his shop forever,” said a police officer from Dahisar police station.
The officers said that Dubey transferred ₹4,900 to his employee, Shyam Dubey, and asked him to give the amount to the officers. However, when Shyam offered the amount to the duo, the accused refused saying that this would not be enough.
“I got scared and transferred the money immediately,” said Dubey. The man then threatened Dubey with a fine of ₹2 lakh and jail for at least one year and left the shop. On Tuesday, when Dubey returned, he learnt that the man who had impersonated the FDA was identified as Santosh Gavas and was a resident of Khan Compound in Dahisar East.
After scanning the CCTV footage of the shop places, the police tracked Gavas and one of his accomplices and arrested the two on Wednesday afternoon. The two will be produced before the court on Thursday. A case has been registered under sections 170, 506, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
