Rich Indian beggars from US, UK stun cops

Hyderabad - The Hyderabad police are 'cleaning up' city streets ahead of Ivanka Trump's visit for Global Entrepreneurship Summit

Ahead of US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump's visit to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad, the city police are trying hard to remove all beggars from the streets of the city to rehabilitation centres.
The Hyderabad police is trying hard so that the city wears an appealing look when US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump visits to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, according to reports in Financial Express.
The Hyderabad police commissioner M Mahendar Reddy has issued a notification on November 11, prohibiting begging in the city until January 7, 2018, ahead of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, for which hundreds of foreign dignitaries are likely to turn up.
The city police are removing all the beggars from the Hyderabad streets and sending them to rehabilitation centres. But, the cops are encountering regular shocks during the 'clean-up drive' where the so-called beggars are turning out to be either well-educated or possessing enough wealth!
In one such incident, the police found two educated and well-off women, begging on the streets. They were among the several women beggars who were brought to Ananda Ashram at Cherlapalli Jail 11 from a dargah at Langar Houz on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
Farzana and Rabiya Baseera stunned the cops when they started speaking in fluent English and objected to them being shifted.
Farzana, 50, who was caught begging near a shrine, has an MBA degree and worked as an accounts officer in London. Farzana owns a luxury apartment in Hyderabad while her son is an architect in the US. She was released based on her son's affidavit who told the cops that she had apparently taken to begging on the directions of a godman to get rid of the bad luck in her life.
While Rabiya Baseera is a US green card holder and owns property in the city but was forced to beg after she was duped by her relatives who took away her possessions. However, some of her relatives have now given a declaration that they would take care of her and took her with them.
Earlier, too, the city police have had a hard time with the beggars. Five beggars gave Rs 20,000 each as bail amount to be let off and not be shifted to the rehabilitation centre.

• India