Police hunt for white car, the link in duping cases

GURUGRAM: A gang of criminals, who pose as police and target foreign nationals, has been giving police the slip since last year. The gang has snatched money from nationals of Iraq, Turkmenistan and Turkey, who had come to the city for medical treatment. The common connect in each of these cases, as reported by the victims, is a white car.

The police have constituted three crime branch teams to trace the “elusive” white car, which the gang has been allegedly using to carry out, but the police are yet to find any conclusive CCTV footage. In at least four cases reported in the city, including one this week, the victims said that the accused were travelling in a white Honda City.

Police officers said that the gang targets foreign nationals staying in hotels near major hospitals in sectors 38, 39 and 52, and Huda City Centre Metro station.

“The gang conducts a reconnaissance of hospitals and guest houses in the area. They approach foreign nationals, posing as police officers, who are detaining illegal immigrants and those trafficking narcotics. The gang has been using fake number plates on the same vehicle or using another vehicle to avoid being traced,” a police officer said, adding that after a spate of incidents this year, the gang had fled to Delhi and Noida, before resurfacing this week.

Police suspect the gang receives prior information about foreign nationals coming to stay.

Preetpal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (ACP), crime, said, “In two cases reported this week, the accused were travelling in a white Honda City and a white Swift. It is possible that the same gang is involved in both the incidents since they took place not too far from each other. We are checking the CCTVs for such vehicles at the time of the incidents.”

On Monday evening, an Iraqi national was targeted in Sector 44 by three men, who snatched 11,400$ from him on the pretext of checking his passport, two days after another Iraqi national was duped of 2,400$ by three men posing as police in Sector 40.

Police suspect that the same gang could be behind the two incidents that took place within 48 hours, within a radius of about two kilometres.