Mumbai: The Khar police on Thursday have arrested two individuals for allegedly duping women and senior citizens by luring them with promises of donations.
According to the police, the accused would approach their targets and claim that their employer was giving out cash to celebrate the birth of a child in their family. The victim would then be taken to a deserted lane, where she was asked to remove her jewelry and place it in her bag to "look poor" in order to receive the donation. Using sleight of hand, the accused would later steal the jewelry.
In the latest incident on November 27, the accused duped a 73-year-old woman in Khar Danda using a similar tactic, stealing a 2-tola gold chain, 1-tola gold earrings, and half-tola ear ornaments from her purse.
After an FIR was lodged, the police tracked down the two accused and arrested them. They were identified as Arjun Kale, 24, and Balaji Pawar, 20, both of whom are pavement dwellers from Mahim West and Borivali East.
The police recovered valuables worth Rs 1.31 lakh, stolen from the senior citizen in Khar Danda. Additionally, they found that five previous crimes had been registered against the accused at Khar police station. Valuables worth Rs 3.22 lakh stolen in these cases were also recovered.
