The woman was caught by local residents and taken to the police (Representational)

An Iranian woman was arrested for allegedly looting a shopkeeper of Rs 50,000 in cash, police said Tuesday.

The woman, along with her accomplices, had fled with a bundle of notes after offering to exchange notes of lower denomination with that of higher denomination, they said.

The incident took place in Kanpur Dehat.

ASP Anoop Kumar said a case had been registered against the accused, identified as Samira Bodaghizadeh (28), a resident of Tehran.

"Samira, along with her other persons, suspected to be Iranians, walked into Maharaj Singh''s shop on Bela Road at Nehru Nagar in Rasoolabad. They offered to exchange notes of Rs 200 with that of Rs 500. They snatched a bundle of notes from the shopkeeper and fled," Anoop Kumar said.

Samira was caught by local residents and taken to the Rasoolabad police station for investigation while her accomplices managed to flee with the money.

An FIR has been registered on the complaint of the shopkeeper.

"Police officials struggled to understand her since she spoke only a few words in Hindi and could not speak in English. She, however, managed to tell that she was staying at a hotel in Delhi. She could not tell the name of the hotel," the ASP said.

"It has been decided to look into the CCTV footage of the incident to identify the other accused at the earliest," the ASP said.

Intelligence official are questioning her, he said, adding that the Iranian embassy would also informed about it.

"It has been decided to keep the woman at the Mahila police station to ensure her safety. She is likely to be produced before a court on Wednesday," the ASP said.

He also informed that the passport of another Iranian citizen had been recovered.