Mumbai Crime: 38-year-old man held for cheating and snatching mobile phones

Allaudin Abdul Aziz Sheikh (38)

The Matunga cops have arrested a 38-year-old delivery boy for snatching the mobile phones of women who were called by him to meet on the pretext of employing them with a spa or massage centre.

The cops till now have recovered three mobile phones from him. A 25-year-old woman complained to the cops about the incident in June 2022. The police officials kept track of the accused and nabbed him on November 23.

The Nalasopara resident had seen one advertisement on a website while searching for a job. While the advertisement mentioned a job opening for a massage therapist and a salary of Rs 25,000 per month. While the woman called on the number mentioned in the advertisement, the person called her to meet him at Matunga (East) railway station on June 4, 2022.

A person in his late 40s met the woman and had a basic chat with her. After this, the man told the woman that she will be taught how to massage and asked if she had time. They will go and meet a trainer for a demo.

Also read: Serum Institute Whatsapp duping case: Seven held, main accused on the run

While sitting on the man's bike, he told the woman to keep her mobile phone in the side box. When the bike reached Maheshwari garden, the man handed over a Rs 100 note and asked the woman to bring a bottle of massage oil from a shop. While she got down from the bike, the man fled from the spot with her mobile phone. The women rushed to Matunga police station and registered an offence.

An offence under IPC section 420 (cheating) and 406 (criminal breach of trust) was registered against the unknown person and an investigation was launched.

"We initially started with the technical analysis to track down the accused because he was trying to be clever and deleted his advertisements. But we were keeping a close eye on the activity of such criminals," told Deepak Chavhan, senior inspector of Matunga police station. A team was formed to track down the accused, under Police sub-inspector Prashant Kamble.

During the investigation, the team found a similar ad on the website, and cops contacted the number posing as a needy unemployed person.

"He started chatting with our man and we asked various queries to gain his trust. Finally, he believed that our man had been trapped and would be a big catch for him. He called our man near Dadar railway station on November 23," told PSI Prashant Kamble. "When he came and met our man, we immediately nabbed him and brought him to the police station" he added.

The accused was identified as Allaudin Abdul Aziz Sheikh (38) resident of Chembur. He confessed to cheating three persons till now by snatching an Iphone as well. Sheikh was produced in court and has been sent into police custody till November 30. The investigation team was composed of Assistant Sub Inspector Jayendra Surve, constable Vinayak Mundhe, Kishore Deshmane, Pravin Todane, Hanuman Metkari and Yashwant Ghadge.