Mumbai: Man tries to sell fake iPhone, gets a ride to police station

Trying to sell a fake iPhone X to a lawyer proved costly for 29-year-old Mohammad Farid Raees Ahmed Ansari, who was arrested by the Colaba Police on Sunday. Little did he know that the complainant, Jitendra Kshirsagar (4), a Colaba-based lawyer, would agree to buying the iPhone X only to land him behind bars. According to the police, the accused claimed that Ansari was selling the phone worth Rs 78,000 for a mere Rs 30,000.

According to the police, Kshirsagar was at a petrol pump near the Gateway of India when Ansari approached him. Ansari claimed himself to be from the Customs Department and said that he was willing to sell an original iPhone X for a mere Rs 30,000.

When Kshirsagar looked at the phone upon Ansari's insistence, he saw an iPhone logo imbibed on it, but no iPhone applications were to be found. "It was then that the complainant realised that one of his friends had fallen prey to a similar fraud before," a Colaba Police officer said.

Kshirsagar agreed to buy the phone from Ansari. "He asked the accused to accompany him to his house so that he can make the payment there. Kshirsagar then parked his two-wheeler some distance away from the police station and immediately alerted an on-duty police officer. He pointed to Ansari from a distance and when our team went to apprehend him, Ansari began running away. We chased him down and arrested him. We seized the mobile phone and its bill from the suspect," the officer said.

During interrogation, Ansari said that he had bought the phone for Rs 6,500 from a shop at Manish Market on Saturday but had told the shop owner to make a bill of Rs 78,000. "We are probing if more persons are involved in this fraud," the officer said.

CAUGHT IN THE ACT

• When Ansari (accused) approached Kshirsagar to sell the fake iPhone, the latter agreed to the deal just to call his bluff
   
• Kshirsagar asked Ansari to accompany him to his house so that he could make the payment there
   
• Without letting Ansari know, Kshirsagar parked his bike near the Colaba police station, and informed the cops who immediately arrested Ansari while he tried to run