Lure of free rations, cash costs Sindhudurg woman jewellery worth ₹2 lakh

Mumbai: The lure of ‘free rations and money’ from a ‘Dubai-returned rich man’ cost a Sindhudurg woman her jewellery, worth nearly ₹2 lakh, in Mumbai on Thursday

Mumbai: The lure of ‘free rations and money’ from a ‘Dubai-returned rich man’ cost a Sindhudurg woman her jewellery, worth nearly ₹2 lakh, in Mumbai on Thursday. And what did she get in return? A banana peel and a pouch of talcum powder.

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According to Jogeshwari police, the victim Usha Irlekar (45), is a homemaker and stays with her husband Balkrishna, a builder, in the Malvan district in Sindhudurg. The police said that her brother stays in Mumbai and she had come to down stay with her brother on February 15.

“On Thursday, the victim had stepped out for shopping. She was on her way to a garments store near Jogeshwari station when a man approached her and told her that free rations and cash were being distributed a short distance away from the spot. She agreed to go with him and he took her to a lane a few meters away,” said an officer with the Jogeshwari police station.

The officer added that as they reached the mouth of the lane, a second man came up and the first man introduced him as his ‘senior’. The ‘senior’ told Irlekar that his employer had just returned from Dubai and was giving away freebies, and that he would be ‘screening’ people before taking them to his employer.

As part of the screening process, the ‘senior’ asked Irlekar to remove two gold chains, worth ₹1.80 lakh, that she was wearing and gave her a cloth bag asking her to place the jewellery in it.

“After I placed my jewellery in the bag, the man asked for it, saying that he, too, wanted to keep something in it. He asked me to start walking and ducked behind me for a second before handing the bag back to me. We walked for a short distance and both men left, asking me to wait there for them,” Irlekar told the police in her statement.

She waited for several minutes and when the men did not return, she dipped into the bag so that she could put her jewellery back on and leave. To her horror, all that she found was a banana peel and a pouch full of talcum powder inside. Irlekar then tried to find the men but was unable to do so, after which she approached the police.

“We have registered an FIR of cheating under the Indian Penal Code against unidentified persons and are scanning CCTV footage of the stretch where the crime was committed. It is possible that the accused were able to gauge the fact that the victim was from another city and took advantage of her confusion,” said the officer.

“Habitual criminals regularly look for signs like asking for directions or general disorientation, indicating a lack of familiarity with the area, while looking for victims to prey on,” added the officer.