Phoney cops are a menace, but ones adept at hypnosis are even more so. Around 9.30 am on Saturday, four people accosted 63-year-old Vijay Kulkarni at Sindhunagar area in Nigdi, put him ‘under a spell’, and made away with gold ornaments worth Rs 60,000.

In his complaint at Nigdi police station, Kulkarni stated that he had gone to an adjacent stationery shop to buy some envelopes. While he was returning home, four people on two bikes directed him to stop and parked their vehicles at the street corner.