A 26-year-old Kenyan garment trader has lost more than Sh9.3 million ( ₹66.45 lakh ) after being robbed by two men posing as police officers in Mumbai, India.
According to the Hindustan Times, the victim, Sumaiya Mohammad Abadi, was travelling in a cab along MG Road in the Fort area on Tuesday afternoon when the suspects, who were riding a motorcycle, intercepted the vehicle.
Claiming to be police officers, the two men searched the cab and confiscated bags containing large sums of cash that Abadi was carrying to purchase garments from wholesale traders. They then instructed her to report to the nearest police station before fleeing the scene with the money.
Abadi realised she had been conned after visiting the MRA Marg police station, where officers confirmed that no such police operation had taken place. A formal complaint was subsequently lodged.
Police said Abadi, who hails from Nairobi, had arrived in Mumbai on January 26 and was staying at a hotel along Mohammad Ali Road. The following day, she went shopping in the busy Kalbadevi wholesale market, where she met friends from Kenya.
Her friends reportedly gave her about Sh7.8 million in cash to pay garment traders, while she was also carrying approximately Sh1.5 million of her own money.
“The Kenyan woman was visiting Mumbai for the first time for business purposes. She had previously visited India in 2023 as a tourist,” an officer from MRA Marg police said on condition of anonymity.
At around 2:30 pm, Abadi and a friend boarded a cab headed to Kandeel Hotel on MG Road in Fort when the suspects struck. After taking the cash, the men left the victims at the scene.
Abadi later went to a hotel in Colaba, where another friend identified as Hiden was staying, before reporting the incident to the police.
Indian authorities have opened a case against the unidentified suspects under Section 318 (cheating) and Section 204 (impersonating a public servant) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
“We have detained one person based on CCTV footage and the registration number of the motorcycle used in the crime. The arrest process is underway,” the officer said.