65-year-old duped of ₹1-lakh valuables at Navi Mumbai

A 65-year-old Nerul woman was duped of valuables worth ₹1.2 lakh by three men who allegedly asked her to put her jewellery in a plastic bag to “look poor” to get sarees, footwear and groceries from their employer, said the police.

One of the accused, in his mid-twenties, was waiting near a ration shop in sector 11, Nerul, when the complainant, Mathura Patil, visited the shop. The police suspect that the men had chosen the location to target unsuspecting elderly women.

Seeing the shop shut, the complainant was returning home with her neighbour Sindhu Nikam, also 65. After walking a little away from the shop, the first man approached the senior citizens, noticing that Patil was wearing gold bangles. He told them that his employer has been blessed with a son after 12 years and asked the women if they could come and give their blessings to the newborn.

He also told them that his employer would be distributing sarees, footwear and groceries to the poor, said the police.

Patil and Nikam agreed to go with the accused. He asked them to wait near a school, a few metres away from the spot he met them.

“Two more persons then arrived there and took Nikam with them. When Patil was alone, the accused told her to keep her gold jewellery in a small plastic bag so it would make her look poor. When she kept her mangalsutra and bangles in the bag, the accused tricked her and managed to steal it,” said an officer from Nerul police station.

The accused stole her two gold bangles worth Rs75,000 and her gold mangalsutra worth Rs45,000. After the three fled, Patil realised that her valuables were missing.

The Nerul police have filed a case of cheating against the three unidentified men following Patil’s complaint.