KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 21 — Police are hunting three suspects believed to have ‘pukau’ (hypnotised) and cheated a retired civil servant, causing the 70-year-old woman to lose jewellery worth about RM10,000 at a shopping centre in Jalan Pandan Prima near here yesterday.

Ampang Jaya district police chief ACP Khairul Anuar Khalid said in the 11 am incident, the victim was approached by a married couple and another woman believed to be an Indonesian national who pretended to seek her assistance.

“The suspects claimed they possessed a lottery ticket worth RM300,000 and sought the victim’s help to redeem it on the grounds that they did not have identification cards. The victim was also promised a reward.

“The foreign woman then held the victim, causing the elderly woman to feel as though she had been hypnotised and to agree to help,” he said in a statement here today.

Khairul Anuar said the victim was subsequently taken in a Proton Waja car with the three suspects and, while in the vehicle, one of the suspects claimed that the lottery ticket had supposedly been exchanged for a cheque for the victim to cash.

However, he said the suspects demanded a RM30,000 deposit from the victim as a guarantee that she would not abscond while cashing the cheque.

“As she did not have cash, the victim handed over a gold necklace and bracelet worth about RM10,000 as collateral to the suspects.

“The victim was then taken to the Ampang Point Maybank branch to cash the cheque but, once she was dropped off from the car, all the suspects fled,” he said. — Bernama