Fake toll station, pay-and-park passes racket busted

Mumbai Police Crime Branch claimed Tuesday to have busted a racket making fake toll station and pay-and-park passes of several establishments, including Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL) and Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), worth crores of rupees.

Acting on a tip-off, a crime branch officer, posing as a tourist vehicle driver, obtained fake passes from near AA Auctioneers and Contractors Agency near Taj Hotel in Colaba Tuesday.

Police subsequently arrested masterminds of the scam Jagdambaprasad Mishra (40), owner of the agency that provides pay-and-park services at civic installations, and printer Somnath Mazi (26).

They then raided residences of the accused and seized fake passes worth Rs 27.83 lakh and a printing press.

"The passes look authentic due to the paper and the printing technology used. The passes are of BWSL, CSIA, Aarey Milk Colony and Thane Bhiwandi Bypass. The accused would sell the passes to drivers of tourist vehicles for around 20 per cent of actual rate. The drivers would obtain full amount from employers, pocketing the difference," said joint commissioner of police (crime) Himanshu Roy.

He said the accused had been running the racket for two years and are believed to have made crores.

The crime branch is probing if toll collection agents, parking attendants and others are involved in the racket.

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