Three Policemen Among 5 Arrested for Staging Drug Raid to Extort Rs 5 Lakh from Tourists on Pune-Mumbai Expressway

Reported by Mubarak Ansari
Kamshet, 8th July 2026: In a shocking case of institutional corruption and highway robbery, Pune Rural Police have arrested five individuals—including active-duty highway policemen —for staging a drug raid on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway to extort ₹5 lakh from a group of tourists.

Superintendent of Police (Pune Rural Police) Sandeep Singh Gill confirmed that the six perpetrators who intercepted the tourists, held them hostage, and forced them to drive to an ATM were actual police personnel and wardens assigned to the Highway Police Assistance Centre, Khandala.

Sightseeing Trip Intercepted near Taje Village
The incident occurred on the afternoon of Sunday, July 5, 2026. The complainant, Bhushit Umesh Sharma (28), a resident of Viman Nagar, Pune, who works as an accountant with an insurance company, was driving to Lonavala for a weekend excursion. He was accompanied by his friend Mohammad Kashan Azmi (28), Azmi’s wife Faiza Jamil (27), and her brother Syed Zuber Ahmed (31)—all residents of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, who had arrived in Pune five days prior.

The group departed Pune at around 4:00 PM in Sharma’s Tata Punch. At around 4:30 PM, after passing the Urse Toll Plaza, their car was targeted within the limits of Taje Village in Maval Taluka.

A Mahindra Xylo utility vehicle, equipped with an official flashing police amber beacon light, chased and aggressively overtook their car, forcing Sharma to pull over onto the shoulder of the highway.

Hostage Drama and Drug Accusations
Six individuals wearing official Highway Traffic Police uniforms stepped out of the Xylo. The group consisted of three uniformed police officers and three department-appointed traffic wardens in khaki.

Sharma was ordered out of his vehicle to speak with the “senior officer” in the front seat of the Xylo. The ringleader immediately launched into an abusive tirade, accusing the group of smuggling marijuana (ganja).

Disregarding the tourists’ pleas of innocence, the personnel dragged Mohammad Azmi out of the car, conducted a thorough search, and found a packet of “Amber Leaf” cigarettes in his pocket.

The personnel photographed the cigarette packet on their mobile phones, declaring it “illegal contraband drug evidence.” They threatened to arrest the entire family, seize the vehicle, and secure maximum prison sentences unless the group paid an immediate bribe of ₹5,00,000.

Fearing legal trouble and public humiliation, the terrified tourists agreed to arrange the money.

Two of the uniform-clad suspects boarded the Tata Punch, forcing Sharma to take a U-turn near an Expressway petrol pump and drive back towards Pune. The captors commanded them to head to an ATM in Talegaon to withdraw the entire ₹5 lakh using their debit cards, while the Xylo vehicle tailed them as an escort.

A Daredevil Escape
Upon entering Talegaon, the victims realized this was their only chance to escape. Sharma and his friends began shouting for help and desperately tried to raise an alarm to attract the attention of bystanders and contact the local police.

Sensing that their cover was blown and that local authorities would soon arrive, the two captors inside the vehicle panicked. They jumped out of the moving Tata Punch, sprinted to the trailing Xylo, and fled the scene at high speed.

A Shocking Reveal: Active Officers and Wardens Unmasked
Following the ordeal, Sharma filed a complaint at the Kamshet Takve Police Station, leading to the registration of C.R. No. 152/2026 under the newly enacted Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.

The initial investigation took a dramatic turn when Pune Rural Police tracked down the Xylo and identified the perpetrators. Instead of civilian impersonators, the gang consisted of active highway patrol staff posted at the Khandala Highway Police Assistance Centre.

SP Sandeep Singh Gill officially identified the accused as:

Police Personnel:
Police Naik (Driver) Amol Waikar (Buckle No. 398)
Police Constable Amol Nannaware (Buckle No. 2901)
Police Constable Tushar Dhaware (Buckle No. 3014)
Highway Wardens:
4. Kisan Bomble
5. Nitesh Chavan
6. Tushar Ghadge
Criminal Prosecution and Disciplinary Action
The accused have been booked under BNS Sections 127(2) (wrongful confinement), 308(2) (extortion), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 351(2) and 351(3) (criminal intimidation), and 3(5) (acts done in furtherance of common intention).

Confirming the latest arrest status, SP Sandeep Singh Gill stated, “Out of the six accused persons, five have been successfully arrested. We are taking this matter with the utmost seriousness, and appropriate disciplinary action is being initiated against the concerned police personnel in addition to rigorous criminal prosecution. Further investigation is in progress.”

Earlier, former Aurangabad MP Imtiaz Jaleel had tweeted, “An FIR has been registered against six unknown policemen under Pune rural police for kidnapping four persons who were travelling from Pune to Lonavala in a car. The policemen stopped the car under the pretext of checking the vehicle and threatened the two boys and the couple friend from Dubai of filing a case if they fail to give Rs 5 lakh. They kept them in their custody for nearly seven hours and were not allowing them to communicate with anyone on phone. But one of the boy used his smart watch to send an emergency help message to a friend who contacted the police. Thanks to the intervention of @PCcityPolice the commissioner Mr Vinay Kumar Chaubey and his three DCPs who all swung into action and helped rescued the boys. Initially it was being felt that the kidnappers were some criminals but later it turned out that they were actually men in uniform!”