SURAT: Crime branch sleuths arrested two persons from Maharashtra on Wednesday for allegedly duping senior citizens by posing as policemen.Police detected involvement of the accused in six offences registered in Umra and Adajan police stations in 2015 and 2016.Police arrested Salim alias Taklo Noorali Irani, 41, and Raj Mohammad Folad Irani, 36, both residents of Irani Gali in Shreerampur in Ahmednagar. Their role in defrauding senior citizens was found while examination of the CCTV footages of the area. Their names had cropped up earlier during investigation but they were on run since then. Following specific information, police nabbed them from their home.Police found involvement of two other persons - Dambar Shahjahan Jafri and Jafar Mukhtar Irani - both residents of Loni near Pune.They used to dress well so that citizens would believe they were cops. After identifying a senior citizen, they stopped them at some isolated location, mostly in the early morning. They told the victims that a crime had happened near-by and police is tracing the miscreants. After cooking up such stories, they told the senior citizens to remove their valuables like jewellery and keep them safely in a bag or pocket. The accused then offered them a handkerchief or piece of paper to cover the valuables.Once the jewellery was covered, they took the jewellery and replaced the victim’s bag with fake jewellery by diverting their attention.Within seconds, they used to disappeared from the area and the victims got to know about the fraud only after reaching home. The accused duped the victims of valuables worth around Rs seven lakh in the six offences, police informed.“They operated in a gang of three or four and targeted bank customers too by by diverting their attention. They either offered help or sought assistance with banking to operations to target those with cash,” said police.

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