A 28-year-old garment businessman, residing in Maharashtra's Thane district, reportedly fell victim to a scam in which he was allegedly defrauded of cash and foreign currency amounting to Rs 1.65 lakh. The deception involved four individuals who impersonated Income Tax officials and targeted him while he was en route to Mumbai airport for a trip to Dubai.
The incident took place at around 2 am on Wednesday after the victim left from Ulhasnagar area in Thane by a cab to reach the airport for a sight-seeing visit to Dubai, an official from Kalwa police station said.
When the businessman's taxi was near the Kharigaon toll naka in the Kalwa area, two individuals on motorcycles approached from behind and halted the cab. They identified themselves as Income Tax officials and informed the man that they had received information suggesting that he was unlawfully transporting US dollars, as explained by the official.
When the victim got down from the cab to talk to the two persons, they allegedly snatched away 7,000 Dirhams and other cash worth Rs 1.65 lakh from his pocket while pretending to question him, he said. In the meantime, two other persons, posing as associates of the accused, arrived there in a car and the cash and the foreign currency were handed over to them. The four persons then fled in the car and on the motorbike, the official said.
The businessman had to call off his trip. He filed a police complaint against the four persons, including one whom he identified as a resident of Ulhasnagar, the official said. Based on the complaint, a case was registered against four persons, including the one identified, under Indian Penal Code sections 170 (personating a public servant), 420 (cheating) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), he said.