Imposter claiming to be FSSAI officer dupes 6 restaurant owners in Malad
Aditi Restaurant in Malad ,Mumbai
In an incident which seems to be directly lifted from Akshay Kumar starer Special 26, a conman duped six restaurant owners in Malad by claiming to be an inspector from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) department.
Identified as Dhaval Bansal, the accused, armed with a fake FSSAI identity card, Aadhar card and a driving licence – all in the name of some Anil Rathod – visited the restaurants and asked the management to present their food and the ingredients used for sampling. Besides, he would take Rs 3000 from them.
However, suspicion arose when restaurant owners observed that he neither carrying any vials nor containers to collect the samples – a practice followed by FSSAI inspectors. Those who had already got duped then alerted their counterparts in the industry by sharing the conman’s physical description on Whatsapp.
Unlike what happens in movies, the thug was trapped yesterday. Before Bansal could reach Aditi Restaurant on SV Road in Malad in search of his latest prey, the Whatsapp message had reached the restaurant management. As his looks matched with the description of the thug, they got alert and entertained him for as long as they could. Meanwhile, they swiftly alerted the police too that reached well on time and arrested the crook before he could leave the restaurant premise.
