Nigerians duped of phones, laptop

MUMBAI: Three Nigerian friends were in for a rude shock as four persons who claimed to be cops knocked on their door on Wednesday morning. Claiming to be policemen, the four told the Nigerians that they wanted to search the house in connection with the recent blasts in the city. The visitors then blackmailed them into parting with their cellphones, laptops and Rs 20,000 cash.
The Vakola police arrested a husband-wife duo and their two aides in the case on Wednesday. The accused claimed that they were police informants and had 'raided' the Nigerians' house suspecting their involvement in narcotics business.
The accused were produced before the court on Thursday and remanded into two days police custody. The police are inquiring if the accused had committed similar offences in the past. The Nigerians are into readymade garment business.
The police said that accused Naresh Rohira and his wife Rekha along with Kaushal Podwalkar and Rohit Rathod approached the Nigerians around 4 am on Wednesday. They told the victim that they were conducting search operation and wanted to check if the victims had any connection with the blast.
The accused said that experts need to examine one of the Nigerians' laptop and two mobile phones and they walked out with the stuff. They also took away a laptop bag, in which the victim had kept Rs 20,000.
A witness, who had noticed the accused while they were escaping, suspected foul play and noted down the number of their vehicles. He provided the details to the Nigerians suggesting them to approach the Vakola police for help.
The police managed to trace the car owner at Oshiwara, who told them that he sold the car three days ago to a Malwani-based man. The Oshiwara resident provided the accused's mobile number. However, the police found that the mobile number was registered on fake address.
The mobile location of the accused was found near Malwani and the police traced the car and the after which they checked all buildings in the vicinity. The car was found parked near a building in the area and it led the police to husband-wife duo. After their interrogation, the other two accused were nabbed.