Two men have been arrested after a doctor was conned out of £72,000 for an Aladdin’s lamp.
It was alleged that they conjured up a fake genie to trick their victim, Laeek Khan, into handing over the cash in Uttar Pradesh, India.
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 realised the ‘genie’ was actually just one of the men in disguise.
Mr Khan contacted police when he realised that the lamp didn’t have any magical powers, as described in the folk tale, Aladdin, and the wish-granting genie did not appear when he rubbed it.
Senior police officer Amit Ray said: ‘The cheats had struck a deal for much more but the doctor had paid about seven million rupees ($93,000).’
He said the men were arrested on Thursday and were remanded in custody ahead of charges being filed.
He added: ‘The wife of one of these men was also involved in the fraud. She is on the run.
‘The men have also cheated other families using the same modus operandi. The total amount of money involved runs into several million rupees.’
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/11/02/con-artists-conjure-up-fake-genie-to-dupe-doctor-into-buying-72000-aladdins-lamp-13519334/