Thiruvananthapuram: The city police arrested an Iranian gang involved in thefts across various places likely after employing a baffling trick of illusion! They have been booked for defrauding a Cherthala shopowner of Rs 34,000 with their amazing skill.

The gang members arrested by the Cantonment police in the Kerala capital were identified as Majid, Mohessem, Dawood and Eionallah, all Iranian nationals. They were handed over to Cherthala police in connection with the recent robbery.

The staff members of a hotel in the city called up Cantonment police station on Wednesday morning to inform that four foreign nationals were creating a ruckus and the visa period of two of them had expired. A police team rushed to the hotel and examined the documents. They found that the visa period of Majid and Eionallah had expired. The duo told the police that their application for renewal of visa was under process and they would receive the same in the afternoon.

On the instructions of Cantonment CI Shafi, sub-inspector Santosh Kumar went to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office and enquired about them. The office staff confirmed that they were Iranian nationals and the visa papers would be ready by the afternoon.

Breakthrough leading to arrest

In the meantime, police became suspicious about the men's behaviour and conducted a thorough search of the room. Their photographs were taken and sent to various police stations across the state.

Cherthala SI Laisad Mohammad identified these persons. The photos resembled the persons who were caught on CCTV footage in connection with the robbery of Rs 34,000 in Cherthala. A team of  Cherthala police reached Thiruvananthapuram and recorded their arrest.

The police said a few days ago the gang went to a shop in Cherthala on the pretext of exchanging foreign currency. They asked him to show Rs 2,000 denomination currency notes. Since some words were scribbled on the note, they asked him to show another one. Then they asked him to place more currency notes on the table.

The shopkeeper obliged and placed more than 30 notes on the table. Within a fraction of seconds, they removed 19 notes. Before the shopkeeper could realise what had happened, the gang left the place. Call it technique or illusion trick, but the manner in which they made the currency notes disappear from the table left everyone dumbstruck.

The gang had arrived in India in January with big plans of carrying out robberies and thefts. Meanwhile, the police initiated a detailed probe to check if they were involved in criminal activities in other states.