Two men have been arrested in India for allegedly conjuring a fake genie from an "Aladdin's lamp" and duping a doctor into buying the item for US$93,000 (S$127,000), an official said on Nov. 1.

The victim, Laeek Khan, approached police in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh after he realised the lamp did not have any magical powers.

"The cheats had struck a deal for much more but the doctor had paid about seven million rupees," a senior officer said, AFP reported.

He said the men were arrested on Oct.29 and were remanded in custody.

The wife of one of the perpetrators is on the run, police added.

What happened

In his complaint filed on Oct. 25, Khan said one of the men pretended to be an occultist.

The man had made a "jinn" — a supernatural figure — appear from the lamp.

The men refused to let Khan touch the genie or take the lamp home, saying it might cause him harm, the complaint stated.

Eventually they sold the lamp to Khan, promising it would bring health, wealth and good fortune.

Khan stated that he later realised the "genie" was actually just one of the men in disguise.

Other families likely duped

The police official said the men have also cheated other families using the same modus operandi, and the total amount of money involved runs into several million rupees.

A magic lamp was described in the popular folk tale about Aladdin, where a wish-granting genie appeared when it is rubbed.

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