Date:10/07/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/10/stories/2008071058700300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

More than dirt on the shirt

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: By now people are getting clued into the hey-there’s-dirt-on-your-shirt con where the gullible are distracted into not paying attention to the valuables they are carrying, which is usually wads of currency. They have even wised up to those fivers and tenners on the ground or that mysterious flat tyre. But what else is a conman if not resourceful as Nazeer Ahmed, 68, found out to his misfortune on Monday. He fell for the line that there was a creepy-crawly on shirt and lost Rs. 60,000.

Mr. Ahmed went to the Syndicate Bank branch on Malleswaram 5th Cross and withdrew the amount. He kept the cash in a bag and was going back home in Mathikere when he was accosted by a man who raised an alarm that there was an insect on his shirt.

Mr. Ahmed kept the cash bag on a compound wall and removed his shirt. For good measure the miscreant then pointed out to a Rs. 100 that had fallen on the ground. Before Mr. Ahmed could collect his wits, the stranger fled with the bag.

Mr. Ahmed filed a complaint with the Malleswaram police.

Dies of burns

A 17-year-old girl, who was allegedly being beaten up by her father, died of burns in Victoria Hospital on Monday.

According to the police, the victim Hemalatha was one of the three children of Mahadeva and Shivamma.