Mumbai News: Businessman duped of ₹26 lakh by fake customs officials; 3 booked

The Sahar police have booked three persons, including a woman, for impersonating as Customs officials and duping a businessman to the tune of ₹26 lakh in foreign currencies.

According to the police, the complainant is a native of Tamil Nadu and runs a business of natural precious stones. A week before the incident, the victim had received a payment of USD25,000 from a Jaipur-based client. The victim had carried the said money with him to Mumbai on May 26 and was staying in a hotel at Dongri.

On May 30, two of the friends of the victim were supposed to fly to Dubai and the victim had gone to the airport around 9:30pm to see them off. He carried the money with him to the airport.

Around 10:15pm, two unknown men and a woman approached the victim and claimed to be Customs officials. They then told the victim that they wanted to make enquiries with him and took him to a garden in the airport premises.

The accused told the victim that they suspected him of smuggling of foreign currency. They then checked the victim and found UAE dirhams from his person. The accused demanded for a bill of the currency. One of the accused then left with the bag, containing US dollars, saying that the bag has to be checked in an X-ray machine.

The other two accused, including the woman, too then began leaving the spot but the victim kept following them. While the second accused escaped taking advantage of the crowd, the victim managed to apprehend the woman. The woman then kept telling the victim that her accomplices would return with the bag, even after several hours when nobody came, the victim took the woman to the police station and got an offence registered in the matter.

The police on Wednesday registered a case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. The police are investigating the case.