In India the police arrested a 29-year-old woman who allegedly used social networking sites to make male friends, call them to hotels, steal their valuables and then flee to Goa and sell the loot with the help of a friend.
Based on a complaint lodged by a cable operator businessman from Dombivli, the police arrested Samrudhi Khadpakar, a resident of Nirmalnagar, Mumbai, and her 34-year-old friend Vilendar D’Costa from Goa.
The 48-year-old victim and complainant Mahesh Patil was cheated of cash, jewelry, mobile phones worth ₹4.95 lakhs by the accused. However, it was Patil’s licensed revolver, stolen with other valuables from hotel in Khoni gaon in Dombivli east on December 21 that put the police on high alert.
The police have registered a case under section 379 of Indian penal code (IPC).
“We took the matter on priority since the woman had stolen the revolver. We thought it could be misused by her and started scanning her social media profiles. During the investigation we also found that a case had earlier been registered against her with the Dombivli government railway police. Further into the investigation we found her Mumbai residence address,” said Shekhar Bagade, senior police inspector, Manpada police.
Mhapsa, Goa. The woman used to make friends with men on Facebook. She would then call them to hotels and spike their drinks and steal them. Fearing social pressure, the victims refrained from complaining and she kept meeting more men and stole them. We have seized all the valuables stolen by them,” said Bagade.
The police have managed to recover valuables worth ₹20.81 lakhs from them comprising 16 mobiles, one revolver, two watches, 290 grams of gold.
