With the arrest of four persons, the police claim to have busted a gang whose members posed as police personnel and robbed Afghan nationals after accusing them of carrying drugs and fake currency.

Among those arrested are two Afghan nationals who identified potential targets, the police said on Saturday.

On April 8, the gang robbed Shamim, an Afghan businessman, of $1,27,500 (Rs.76,86,975) and bought a Toyota Innova car worth Rs.11 lakh and a Honda CBR bike worth Rs.1.85 lakh with the money.

The police recovered the two vehicles along with an Indica car, which was used in the crime and cash of Rs.16,00,000 cash from them.

“We have recovered valuables worth around Rs.35 lakh from them,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav.

The accused identified as Arif Khan (38), Yashvir Singh (43), both residents of Delhi and Agha Khan (42) and Wali Agha (25), both Afghan nationals, were arrested by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police on Friday following a tip off.

“In the past few months, robberies targeting Afghan businessmen/traders in North and Central Delhi were reported to us. These incidents had caused an alarm and a team was formed to nab the robbers. After investigations, this gang was identified as suspect in these incidents,” said Mr. Yadav.

On Friday, specific information was received that the accused were assembling near Kabristan, Nizamuddin. A trap was laid and an Indica car was seen coming from the Nizamuddin Dargah stretch.

The car was signalled to stop, but sensing the presence of the police, they tried to escape, but the team intercepted the car and apprehended all the four accused.

During sustained interrogation, it was revealed that Arif Khan, Nadeem and Yashvir were friends, the police said. Agha Khan told them that his relative Wali Agha works in Kabul Zaika restaurant at Balli Maran area. One Sameer Guest House is next to this restaurant where many Afghan tourists stay.

“He told them that he knows many Afghan nationals who carry huge amount of money from Delhi to their country. He also informed them that if they robbed them, they will not report the incident to the police. They then formed a gang and decided to carry out the robberies,” said Mr. Yadav.

Agha Khan told them that Shamim would be travelling to Kabul on the morning of April 8 with a huge amount of foreign currency. All the accused have been arrested under Section 41.1 (A) CrPC.

Efforts are being made to arrest the mastermind and absconding accused Nadeem. It is also being verified whether they were involved in earlier incidents.