Men disguised as transwomen rob new mom of her gold chain, arrested

Mumbai: A gang of three men were arrested on Sunday for impersonating transwomen and cheating a new mother of her gold chain worth ₹50,000

Mumbai: A gang of three men were arrested on Sunday for impersonating transwomen and cheating a new mother of her gold chain worth ₹50,000. The frauds instilled fear in the woman by telling her that her two-day-old son is born with evil spirits and bad luck.

Men disguised as transwomen rob new mom of her gold chain, arrested

The frauds pretended to bless the woman’s gold chain in order to get rid of the omen and advised her that she should keep the chain under a pillow for seven days. After a week, when the complainant opened the handkerchief, she found only the turmeric powder, which was used by the frauds to bless the gold.

According to the MIDC police, on July 6, the victim, identified as Alka Prajapati (28), resident of Gupta Chawl, MIDC had given birth to a son. When she arrived at her residence with her newborn from the maternity home, the three accused Bhanudas Sawant (29), Mahendra Nagnath (38) and Prakash Shinde (24) dressed in sarees, reached her house.

The conmen told Prajapati that her son had evil spirits around him and bad luck. The accused told Prajapati that they would bless the gold chain and pendant around her neck and tie it in a handkerchief.

They then instructed her to keep the handkerchief under her pillow and open it after seven days. On July 13, when Prajapati opened the handkerchief, she found the chain missing.

She then approached the police and registered a case of cheating, “There was no CCTV footage of the three anywhere in the area,” said Satish Gaikwad, senior police inspector of MIDC police station.

Through sources and informers, the police learnt that the three men stayed in Buldhana.

On Sunday, the police arrested the three men and took them to Mumbai. “We are now finding out whether the maternity home is the place from where the three men got Prajapati’s address and learnt that she had a son two days ago,” said Gaikwad. The police are also finding out whether the three have cheated other new mothers using the same modus operandi.