Chhattisgarh police have busted an interstate racket that allegedly cheated people of crores of rupees by claiming to turn blackened and damaged currency into new notes using chemicals and double the amount. Seven accused were arrested from Maharashtra, while two women had been held earlier in Nagpur in connection with the case, as reported by India Today, ThePrint, The Times of India, and The Hindu.
The arrests came after a raid at a resort in Khandala in Pune district, where the accused were allegedly trying to cheat a Varanasi resident who had brought crores of rupees to get it doubled, according to police. The operation followed the arrest of two women, Kaniz Fatma alias Bhavna Pandey, 24, and Deepika Paliwal, 24, in Nagpur. Acting on digital evidence and information provided by the duo, a police team camped in Pune for about a week and tracked the suspects to the resort, as per ThePrint and The Hindu.
Police recovered more than Rs 4 crore in cash, 17 mobile phones, black paper cut in the shape of currency notes, glass plates and other materials from the syndicate, as reported by all four outlets. The gang is suspected to have been operating since 2005 and allegedly cheated more than 100 people across Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Delhi.
A case has been registered at Telibandha police station under sections 318(4) (cheating) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, as per India Today and The Times of India. The accused have been brought to Raipur on transit remand.
The accused were identified as Gyan Prakash Srivastava alias Yogi (46), Praveen Kumar Srivastava alias Captain, Shetty or Reddy (52), Manoj Kumar Srivastava alias Bade Sir (55), Vivek Singh (48), Shubham Pandey (37), Yogendra Chauhan (48) and Balmukund Dixit (40), according to all four reports. Police identified Gyan Prakash, Praveen Kumar and Manoj Kumar Srivastava as the alleged ringleaders.
Modus operandi
According to police, the accused would arrange meetings at hotels and other places and stage demonstrations with genuine currency notes and chemicals to convince victims that blackened and damaged notes could be converted into new currency. After winning their confidence, they allegedly collected money in instalments on the pretext of importing chemicals, conducting tests, obtaining official clearances and completing other formalities, as reported by India Today, ThePrint, and The Times of India.
The syndicate allegedly approached victims with claims that they could use chemicals to transform blackened or damaged currency into new notes and double the amount in the process, as per The Times of India.
Investigation and arrests
Some gang members had previously been jailed in Mumbai and Varanasi, as reported by all four outlets. With the arrest of the seven, a total of nine people have been taken into custody in the case so far, and efforts are underway to trace the remaining members, according to police.
The investigation is ongoing.