LAHORE: The police have arrested a gang accused of defrauding citizens by posing as foreigners and offering to exchange dollars, two days after a resident of Gulshan-e-Iqbal was allegedly deprived of Rs40,000.
According to a spokesperson for the DIG Operations, police began searching for the suspects after the incident in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. The suspects were traced with the help of Safe City cameras and other technology.
Race Course police tracked a suspicious vehicle and rounded it up on Jail Road. Two men travelling in the vehicle were taken into custody and questioning began.
The arrested men were identified as Hussain and Abbas. On their identification, a woman who took part in the incident was also arrested.
During investigation, the suspects allegedly disclosed that they defrauded citizens by posing as foreigners. Police said they would show dollars and rob citizens under the pretext of having Pakistani currency exchanged.
The vehicle used in the incident was taken into police custody. The arrested suspects, the woman and the vehicle have been handed over to the investigation wing for further legal proceedings.
The currency-exchange confidence trick follows a consistent pattern that is worth describing, because recognition is the only reliable defence against it.
An approach is made in a public place by someone presenting as a foreign visitor, often with a language barrier that discourages extended conversation. Foreign currency is produced, and the target is asked for help exchanging it — framed as a favour rather than a transaction, which is what disarms the ordinary caution a stranger’s business proposition would attract.
The exchange itself creates the opportunity. The target produces local cash, and the theft occurs in the moment of handover, through sleight of hand, substitution of a counterfeit or short bundle, or a straightforward snatch with a vehicle waiting.
The presence of a female accomplice is common in such operations. A mixed group reads as less threatening than a group of men, and enables the approach in settings where two men alone would draw attention.
Currency exchange in Pakistan is a regulated activity conducted by licensed exchange companies and banks. There is no legitimate circumstance in which a stranger in a street or market needs a private individual to exchange foreign currency for them.
Anyone approached with such a request should decline and, where possible, note the vehicle registration. Transactions involving cash handover to strangers in public places should be refused regardless of how the request is framed.
The role of the camera network in tracing the vehicle is the operationally significant detail. The Punjab Safe Cities Authority network was built substantially around vehicle tracking, and its clearest successes have been in cases of this type — offences involving a vehicle moving through monitored corridors, where a registration number or a distinctive vehicle can be followed across the city.
The three arrested individuals have not been convicted of any offence, and the account of their alleged disclosures during investigation comes from police. Statements made to police during investigation are not admissible as evidence in Pakistani courts. All three retain the presumption of innocence.
Leave a Reply