Mumbai Crime: Posing as Mantralaya official, man cons sisters of Rs 3 lakh

Cops are on the tail of a 30-year-old man who cheated two women of nearly Rs 3 lakh, after befriending one of them on Facebook. Posing as a top Mantralaya official, the accused also claimed that his wife was a police official in order to win the trust of his victims.

Fareed Khan's profile picture on Facebook shows him posing in front of a police van, while his cover photo sports three stars

Chembur resident Fareed Khan's gullible victims were convinced that he was a big fry by his profile picture on Facebook, which showed him posing in front of a police van. One of the victims, Rehaana Mohomaad Haroon Ansari (45), is a resident of Kasai Vada in Shivaji Nagar, and has six sons and two daughters.

The family came in contact with Fareed in October 2013, through her son Danish's Facebook profile. An officer from Shivaji Nagar police station said, "The accused claimed that his wife worked as a police officer, and also claimed that he would soon be promoted.

The family started trusting him, and by the end of December, he started visiting their home on a regular basis." Soon after, Fareed started extracting money from the family, on the pretext of helping Danish get a lucrative job, and helping them get loans at very low interest rates. Oblivious to the fact that she was being taken for a ride, Rehaana soon introduced Fareed to her sister Zeba.

She too gave money to Fareed for different benefits that he promised her. However, they realised they had been duped when he stopped receiving their phone calls last month.

Senior Police Inspector Radhesham Agarwal from Shivaji Nagar police station said, "Fareed also promised to help them get their passports promptly, and took money from both the women.

On Tuesday, the women registered a case with the Shivaji Nagar police. The two women were cheated of Rs 2.88 lakh. While Rehaana was duped of Rs 1.69 lakh, Fareed took Rs 1.19 lakh from Zeba."