Two men who supposedly duped a specialist into purchasing an “Aladdin’s lamp” for $93,000 — and even invoked a phony genie, have been captured in India, an authority said Sunday.
Laeek Khan moved toward police in the northern province of Uttar Pradesh after he understood the lamp didn’t have any mysterious forces, as portrayed in the well-known people story about Aladdin and his desire giving genie that shows up when it is scoured.
“The cheats had struck an arrangement for considerably more however the specialist had paid around 7,000,000 rupees ($93,000),” Amit Rai, a senior official told AFP.
He said the men were arrested on Thursday and were remanded in custody ahead of charges being filed.
“The wife of one of these men was also involved in the fraud. She is on the run,” Rai added.
In his complaint filed last Sunday, Khan said one of the men pretended to be an occultist and made a “jinn” — a supernatural figure — appear from the lamp, local media reported.
But when Khan asked if he could touch the genie or take the lamp home, they refused, saying it might cause him harm, the complaint stated.
Eventually, they sold the lamp to him, promising it would bring health, wealth, and good fortune.
Khan stated that he later realized the “genie” was actually just one of the men in disguise.
“The men have also cheated other families using the same modus operandi. The total amount of money involved runs into several million rupees,” Rai said.
(AFP)
