25-year-old from Noida and his friend were duped out of Rs 600 by scammers pretending to be BMC clean-up marshals at Bandra's Bandstand
mid-day photographer Sayyed Sameer Abedi was at Bandstand when the incident took place and was taking pictures. When he saw the duo perturbed, he enquired and they told him what happened
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Amitesh Kumar won't take back good memories of his first trip to Mumbai. The 25-year-old was duped by scamsters pretending to be clean-up marshals at Bandra's Bandstand. Amitesh and his friend were taking a walk on Friday afternoon when they were approached by a group of people asking them to pay a fine for littering. They were asked to pay Rs 5,000, but when the two pleaded saying they didn't have enough cash on them, the goons accepted Rs 600 and left without giving any receipt.
Pics/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
"I came to Mumbai from Noida for some work. We came to bandstand as it's a tourist spot and actor Salman Khan stays here. The men approached us when we were taking a walk, and it took me a minute to realise that they were asking me to pay a fine for throwing the wrapper of a chewing-gum that I had been eating. I was shocked and nervous. They said if I didn't pay the fine, I would be jailed. I only had Rs 400 on me at that time. I was afraid they would ask to see my luggage, and so my friend chipped in Rs 200 and only then did they let us go," added Amitesh. Kuldeep Singh, Amitesh's friend, said, "It was bizarre. We realised we had been conned because they did not even give us any receipt. We then went to Bandra Police Station," said.
Kuldeep Singh and Amitesh Kumar
After the duo approached the police, a constable from Bandra police station was sent with them to the spot to catch the scammers. "We did not want to create an issue as we have to leave Mumbai soon. Hence, we did not submit a formal complaint. When the constable came back with us, we couldn't find the conmen," said Amitesh. Despite sending a constable with them to spot the troublemakers, Senior Police Inspector Pandit Thakare of Bandra Police Station, denied of any such incident. When mid-day called him for a comment, he said, "Nobody has approached us with such complaint."
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