Gurgaon: Three men posed as cops and allegedly stole gold bangles from a 65-year-old retired lecturer near her house in Sector 7 Extension.They allegedly told her that women should not wear gold jewellery as it might hamper their security. They then persuaded her to remove her bangles, placed them in a paper packet and returned it. Once the woman reached home, she found her real bangles had been replaced with fake ones.The incident allegedly took place around 9.15am on Sept 1. Sarla Kumari was returning home from an Arya Samaj temple. Sarla told TOI the temple was close to her house and she had almost reached home when a tall, muscular man called out to her from behind and stopped her. He claimed to be a cop. Soon, two other men joined him and said they were cops as well, although they were dressed in civilian clothes.“They told me they were there for a regular check and asked me not to wear my jewellery openly. They told me to remove all my jewellery and keep it in my bag,” Sarla said.She was wearing gold earrings, bangles and a gold chain. Initially, she refused to remove the jewellery, but the three men kept on insisting, citing security concerns. “Initially I refused but as the three kept insisting citing security concerns, I removed two bangles,” she said.The men then handed her a piece of paper and asked her to wrap the bangles in it. They took the packet, wrapped it in a bigger paper bag and handed it back to her. Sarla put the packet in her bag and continued towards home.“When I opened the bag they gave me, I felt numb for a minute. Those bangles weren’t mine and I told my husband what had happened,” she said. “Fortunately, I didn’t remove my earrings and chain.”Her husband Jagdish Chand rushed outside and looked for the men but could not find them. He then went to the New Colony police station and filed a complaint.Police have registered a case under BNS sections 318(4) (cheating) and 319(2) (cheating by personation).Sarla said the incident had been captured on CCTV cameras installed near the spot. During an initial probe, police procured the footage. They are investigating the matter and efforts are on to identify and trace the three men.
