The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Beware of attention diversion gang

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 21, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Beware of attention diversion gang

Staff Reporter

Two more telephone numbers of police are 23261166 or 27852725

HYDERABAD: City police on Tuesday appealed to people to call them on telephone nos. 100, 23261166 or 27852725 if they came across any suspects attempting to steal jewellery or cash by distracting attention of people.

In the past few days, incidents of thefts by members of attention diversion gangs have increased. Police Commissioner Balwinder Singh, in a press release on Tuesday, asked people to be careful about such offenders.

In some cases, thieves approach persons walking alone on the road claiming themselves as policemen in plainclothes and warn them against wearing jewellery.

In the name of helping the victims pack the ornaments in paper, they keep stones in the packet and hand it over to them.

Cash bags

In other cases, the offenders throw currency notes on the road and ask passers-by if they belonged to them and take away their cash bags when the latter try to collect the notes. Recently, they took away Rs. 5 lakh from a Government employee at ICICI bank's Khairatabad branch and a laptop from a car at Parklane in Secunderabad using this modus operandi.

In a few cases, the offenders are approaching housewives posing as jewellery polishers.

They win confidence of gullible women by cleansing one or two chains.

Later, they ask the woman to keep all ornaments in a bowl, ask her to bring water and disappear by the time she returns.

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Andhra Pradesh