Four held for stealing, impersonating as cops

Four men were arrested from Sarai Kale Khan area here for allegedly stealing valuables from senior citizens by impersonating as policemen, officials said on Saturday. Three caps having the badges of UP Police, Bihar Police and Indian Army were also recovered from their possession, they said.

The accused have been identified as Nisar Mishkin Sayyed (38), a resident of Ambewali in Maharashtra, Iqbal (27), Salman Ali (27) and Shabir Ali (20), all residents of Deoband in UP, police said. Sayyed is the kingpin of the gang and was wanted in a MCOCA case registered in Mumbai and four cases of cheating and robbery registered in Nagpur, police said.

On Thursday, police got a tip-off about the movement of the gang near Indraprastha Park, Sarai Kale Khan and apprehended the four members, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajesh Deo said. During interrogation, they disclosed that two members impersonating as cops would look to target senior citizens. They ask their target to take off their jewellery on the pretext of checking, the DCP said.

They would then pack the jewellery in a paper packet and instead of returning the real jewellery, they hand over fake jewellery in a similar packet to the victim, police said. Meanwhile, one of the members stationed at some distance to keep a watch and other gang members would wait with a car or bike to flee, they said. The gang also target the couriers of the jewellery shops. They pose as crime branch and CBI officers and on the pretext of checking, they rob them, police said.