Thieves posing as cops on prowl

A gang of thieves posing as cops approached the two separately in Mulund and Panvel last week and told them to hand over their ornaments for 8216;security reasons8217;. A petrified Dayal handed over her ornaments but Patel stood her ground and refused.

It was only when the friends met later that they realised both of them had been targeted by the same gang.

8220;Last Saturday, when my husband and I were walking towards our home at 7 am at Sevaram Lalwani Road in Mulund, three men claiming to be CID officials suddenly approached me. They said that they wanted to check my belongings. I called out to my husband, who was walking ahead of me, but he couldn8217;t hear and meanwhile the men gripped my arm and led me inside a building nearby,8221; said Dayal.

According to the police, the men then claimed that they wanted to check her bags for drugs and when they did not find anything, they asked Dayal to hand over her gold chain and diamond studs. 8220;Claiming that there was a murder investigation in progress they ordered me to hand over my jewellery to them for safekeeping. When I refused, one of them came forward to remove it and that8217;s when out of fear, I gave my chain and bangles to them,8221; said Dayal. Luckily for Dayal, the thieves hadn8217;t bothered to frisk her, or they would have found Rs 22,000 that she had tucked inside her sari petticoat. The last thing she remembers is the sound of a motorcycle starting.

Dayal8217;s family immediately lodged a complaint with the Mulund police and had even got sketches of the accused made. It was only after seeing these sketches that Patel revealed she had undergone a similar experience last Monday. 8220;At around 10 am when I was walking on the road leading to Panvel railway station, three men claiming to be police accosted me. Despite continuously telling me to remove my ornaments, I refused to do so and then they had left on a motorbike. Of the three men, the one claiming to be the senior police official was fair and wore sunglasses. The second thug had a pockmarked face and wore an earring in one ear. Dayal8217;s description of the men matches with mine and the sketches also confirmed it,8221; said Patel.

The Mulund police however claimed that the gang was not from Mulund. 8220;We don8217;t have any record of arrested persons with the above description. Our investigations are on in the case,8221; said Mulund8217;s senior police inspector Prakash Landge. He, however, said that he was not aware whether the accused operated in Panvel.