Villagers hit four cops thinking they're fake'

Mumbai: A group of around 50 residents of Kombadbhuje village, Navi Mumbai tied up four officials from Mumbai police’s special branch (SB), including a woman police constable Mangal Urankar (40), and then assaulted them with cricket bats and sticks around 4 am on Tuesday.

The on-duty policemen had ventured into the village to nab a Bangladeshi couple who was staying there illegally. After an alert, the local police team reached the spot in 20 minutes to rescue the SB officials who were clad in civvies. A police source said that the villagers thought the four were “fake police”.

Three of the assaulted SB police officers are receiving treatment at the MGM Hospital. Acting on the SB team’s complaint, Navi Mumbai’s NRI police station registered a case against 50-odd residents of Kombadbhuje village for beating up the cops and obstructing them from performing their duties.

Kombadbhuje residents thrashed the four officials with sticks and bats.

According to Navi Mumbai police officials, on Tuesday midnight, a team of six Mumbai CID police officials of special branch (1) arrested three Bangladeshi nationals near Mankhurd highway. After interrogation, the Bangladeshi nationals disclosed residential details of other friends who were staying illegally in Kombadbhuje village.

NRI police station, senior PI, S. Bagade said that the four SB officials reached the house of the Bangladeshi nationals in the village and asked them to come out. “The villagers allege that since there were three burglaries in the village in the last two months they thought the cops were fake, so they hit them. We reached the spot after 20 minutes, brought the situation under control and admitted the injured cops to the hospital,” Mr Bagade said.