A 40-year-old woman who posed as an IPS officer and her 19-year-old daughter were arrested Saturday after they duped at least three shop owners in Pune Camp by buying imitation jewellery, clothes and footwear worth over Rs 2 lakh from these stores and asking them to collect the charges from Pune police commissioner officer. The accused were identified as Minhaz Murtaza Shaikh and her daughter Riba Murtaza Shaikh. Police have seized some of the stolen items from their possession. An FIR over the matter was registered at Lashkar police station based on a complaint by Azam Iqrab Shaikh (39), who owns a footwear shop in Pune Camp area. According to police, on September 13, the woman and her daughter went to the complainant's shop. Minhaz showed the complainant a fake identity card and identified herself as an IPS officer. The woman claimed to have a wedding in the family and said she wanted to buy several fancy footwear for the guests. The shop owner alleged that the duo picked up 31 footwear and nine pairs of socks total worth Rs 17,000. Minhaz then allegedly claimed that she had forgotten her wallet on her table in her office in Pune police commissionerate. She asked the complainant to send his staffer along and claimed that a constable will hand over the cash to the staffer at the gate of the police commissioner office. The woman and daughter along with the shop staffer went in an autorickshaw to a location near Pune police commissioner office and asked the staffter to wait at a location. The duo then fled the spot, the shop owner alleged. As the police began a probe over the matter, it came to light that the duo had duped a clothing shop of Rs 67,000 and an imitation jewellery shop of Rs 1.40 lakh. Based on the security camera footage, Minhaz and Riba were arrested on Saturday. Police have recovered from them stolen items worth Rs 45,000. Further investigation was underway.
