Pune: Mother-Daughter Duo Impersonates IPS Officer, Steals Footwear Worth Rs 45,000
Camp, 5th October 2025: The Lashkar police have arrested two women who allegedly stole from a footwear shop on MG Road by posing as an IPS officer and her assistant.
The accused, identified as Minaj Murtaza Sheikh (40) and her daughter Riba Murtaza Sheikh (19), both residents of Kondhwa, were arrested after police traced them through CCTV footage.
According to the complaint filed by Azam Iqrab Sheikh, owner of a footwear shop on MG Road, the incident took place on the evening of September 13. The duo visited his shop pretending to purchase footwear for a wedding ceremony. Minaj allegedly introduced herself as an IPS officer and displayed a fake police identity card to gain the shopkeeper’s trust.
“They selected expensive footwear and told me to send a worker to the Police Commissioner’s office (claiming she is posted there) to collect payment. She said that she was not carrying cash or ATM card,” the complainant stated.
According to police, the woman hired an autorickshaw from MG Road, claiming she needed to go to the police commissioner’s office. “She, her daughter, and the shopkeeper reached the office entrance, where she asked the shopkeeper to remain seated in the autorickshaw,” said Senior Police Inspector Girish Dighavkar, in-charge of Lashkar police station.
“After some time, they suddenly disappeared. The shopkeeper waited for nearly an hour before contacting the police and discovering that he had been duped,” he added.
Following the complaint, a team led by Police Sub-Inspector Swati Bharade along with policemen Lokesh Kadam and Amol Kodilkar began investigating. CCTV footage from the MG Road area helped police identify and detain the two accused. During interrogation, the police recovered footwear and imitation jewellery worth around Rs 45,000 from them.
According to the police, the mother-daughter duo has previous cases registered against them, and investigators are probing whether they have used similar tactics in other thefts.
