> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://hyperallergic.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# A Man in India Was Conned Into Buying “Aladdin’s Lamp” for $41K
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/aladdins-lamp-india-con/
- Published: 2020-11-04T22:33:24.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:38:46.000Z
- Description: According to the alleged victim’s complaint, the swindlers “conjured up” a genie from the lamp, and one dressed up as Aladdin à la One Thousand and One Nights.
- Author: Hakim Bishara
- Tags: In Brief, India, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 09:08 (2019, 2020, part 3)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/7486431222_c85decacfe_k.jpg)

Last week, a man in India learned the hard way that Aladdin is, in fact, a fictional character. Police in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh arrested two men for allegedly duping LA Khan, a local physician, into buying an Aladdin’s lamp for tens of thousands of dollars, promising that it would bring him wealth and health.

According to the Indian news agency [NDTV](https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/con-artists-sell-alladins-lamp-to-up-doctor-for-rs-31-lakh-arrested-2318460?pfrom=home-topscroll&ref=hyperallergic.com), the swindlers initially requested more than $200,000 for the oil lamp but settled for a down payment of $41,600.

The doctor filed a complaint with local police in Meerut, in western Uttar Pradesh, on October 25\. He told the police that he first met the two men while treating a woman he thought was their mother. He visited the supposed patient at her house for over a month.

> Two men have been arrested in western Uttar Pradesh's Meerut after they allegedly cheated a city doctor of Rs 31 lakh by selling him "Aladdin's lamp" – the magical artifact from the popular Middle Eastern folk tale that brings forth a wish-granting genie when it is rubbed. [pic.twitter.com/YlW3Sm1RpN](https://t.co/YlW3Sm1RpN?ref=hyperallergic.com)  
>  
> — Kashmir News Trust (@knewstrust) [October 31, 2020](https://twitter.com/knewstrust/status/1322429543945101312?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=hyperallergic.com)

“Gradually they started telling me about a baba \[godman\] whom they claimed also visited their home,” Khan was [quoted as saying](https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/con-artists-sell-alladins-lamp-to-up-doctor-for-rs-31-lakh-arrested-2318460?pfrom=home-topscroll&ref=hyperallergic.com) in his complaint. “They started brainwashing me and asked me to meet this baba.”

According to the doctor’s complaint, the defendants “conjured up” a genie from the lamp as part of their ruse (no, it wasn’t [Will Smith](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6139732/characters/nm0000226?ref%5F=tt%5Fcl%5Ft1&ref=hyperallergic.com) or the late Robin Williams). On another occasion, one of them dressed up as Aladdin à la *One Thousand and One Nights.*

Meerut police officer Amit Rai told NDTV that the two men were suspected of defrauding other families using the same method. He added that police are still searching for a woman, the wife of one of the suspects, who was allegedly involved in the fraud.