Hyderabad: Thief who stole dollars from Afghan national at Mecca Mosque held

HYDERABAD: Taskforce sleuths on Monday arrested a thief who stole foreign currency to the tune of Rs one lakh from an Afghan national who came to Hyderabad for the medical treatment of his son.

South Zone Taskforce sleuths along with Hussainialam police, arrested Mirza Rahmath Baig in the Old City when he was trying to exchange foreign currency.

The accused, who has a criminal record, confessed to have committed the offence and police recovered 1,400 US dollars and 5,000 in Afghan currency.

Rahmath Baig stole the currency from Syed Mirwais Rahimi on January 4 at Mecca Mosque.

Rahimi had come to Hyderabad on December 29 along with his six-yea- old son Faiaz for an eye surgery at LV Prasad Eye Hospital. At 1 pm on January 4, Rahimi visited Mecca Mosque for Friday prayers.

Rahimi was carrying 1400 US Dollars and 5000 Afganis in his kurta pocket. The accused, who was also present at the mosque, stole the money when the victim was passing through the crowd of worshippers.

Based on the complaint lodged by Rahimi, police analysed the CCTV camera footage at the mosque, nearby places and identified the accused, who has committed thefts at Chandrayanagutta and Begumbazar in the past.