New Delhi, July 20 (IANS) A woman private tutor and two of her associates were arrested for duping her relative in Delhi’s Wazirabad by posing as “CBI officials” and escaping with cash, ornaments and Rs 3 lakh, the Delhi Police said on Sunday.

The 22-year-old woman, a resident of Karawal Nagar, and her accomplices – Keshav Prasad, 28, and Vivek Singh, 20, – targeted her distant relative Israt Jameel’s house on July 10 around 7.30 p.m. and “searched” the premises by posing as “CBI officials from Okhla Branch”, the police said.

“They were arrested on July 18. The woman and Keshav Prasad were apprehended from Mussoorie and, at their instance, Vivek Singh was arrested from Haridwar,” said a police official.

They were booked by Wazirabad Police under penal provisions for cheating, mischief and theft involving preparations for causing death, injury or restraint, the police said.

During the incident, the fraudsters told the victim’s family members that they had a search warrant against them. When the family members asked for a copy of the FIR and search warrant, the accused scolded them and used harsh words, the police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (North District) Raja Banthia, in a statement, said one of the fraudsters, who were all dressed in while shirts and black trousers, introduced himself as Sunil Dubey and ordered the family members to sit in one corner of the room while the other two searched the house.

“The other two started searching the house. They broke the lock of the almirah and took out all the gold and silver jewellery of the complainant’s wife and Rs 3 lakh,” he said.

Before the accused left the house, complainant Israt Jameel sought a seizure memo enlisting the jewellery and cash collected by them and inquired about the procedure to get these articles back, the police said.

In response, the fraudsters wrote a note and signed on the notebook of the complainant’s daughter in fake names and escaped with jewellery and cash, the police said.

The DCP said the Israt Jameel got suspicious and called the police, but before they could arrive, the imposters escaped.

DCP Banthia said Rs 1.75 lakh out of the cheated money, 29 gold/silver ornaments, a motorcycle used in the crime and clothes worn by the accused at the time of the offence have been recovered.

He said during interrogation, the fraudsters said that after the incident, they went to Haridwar and visited Mussoorie, continuously changing their locations to escape from the police. “The fraudsters had spent some of the money on their luxuries,” the DCP said.

Sharing profiles of the accused, the police said Keshav Prasad runs a shop of food supplements in Haridwar, and Vivek Singh is unemployed and enrolled as a student in an open school.

The woman is a graduate and takes private tuitions of school children in Karawal Nagar in north Delhi, the police said.

–IANS

rch/svn