Two foreigners were criminally detained for allegedly appropriating properties of overseas tourists, according to the Hoàn Kiếm District Police on Tuesday.

Previously at noon last Tuesday, the Hàng Trống Ward Police went on patrol on the Hàng Thiếc Street and discovered two foreign men riding a Honda Vision motorbike with license plate number 29S6- 96.32 with suspicious behaviour.

The police organised a secret ambush and surveillance.

When arriving at the house No.43 Hàng Thiếc Street, the man sitting in the back jumped out of the motorbike, stopped a foreign tourist and held up a hard card.

The police could not determine what he said.

After that, the tourist showed his passport and wallet to the man.

The tourist is Mohammad Iftakhar Hossian Khan, 46, with Bangladeshi nationality.

Mohammad told the ward police that while he was walking on the street, the man stopped him, showed a “POLICE” card, talking to him in English and identified  himself as Interpol.

The man asked Mohammad to give him his passport and wallet for inspection.

Because Mohammad was in Việt Nam, did not understand Việt Nam’s laws, and was also worried and scared, he gave all of his papers and assets to the man.

Fortunately, the incident was discovered and stopped promptly by the Hàng Trồng Ward Police.

Investigation of the ward police showed that the two men are Abdul Aziz, 55, with Pakistani nationality and Jahanbakhsh Ghiasi, 50, with Iranian nationality.

Checking Ghiasi’s body, the police confiscated a "POLICE" hard card from London, the UK with name and photo of Abdul Aziz, which was the one he had used earlier to threaten the tourist.

Aziz admitted to the police that he had the card made in Bangkok (Thailand) for 500 bath (US$13), with the purpose of intimidating foreign tourists and appropriating their property.

Expanding the investigation, Ghiasi confessed that with this tactic, also at 12.20am last Monday, they stopped an Indian male tourist at No.13 Hàng Gai Street in Hoàn Kiếm District and took VNĐ10 million ($400) from the Indian victim.

They then used the money for personal spending.

The police reviewed and identified that the Indian victim is Pradhap Kakkappan, 26, and called the victim to identify the perpetrator, which he confirmed to be Ghiasi.

The Hoàn Kiếm District Police are conducting further investigation on the case. — VNS