Police arrest two in fake currency exchange racket

Two persons have been arrested in Mumbai for cheating people by giving them fake notes in exchange for high-value foreign currency. The accused operated in a group and targeted victims in various locations. They were arrested after duping a taxi driver of ₹1.5 lakh.

Mumbai: Two persons, including one from Delhi, have been arrested for allegedly cheating several people by giving them fake notes on the pretext of exchanging high-value foreign currency notes with the Indian currency.

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The incident came to light when a Ghatkopar resident was duped by both the accused, Raju Tajul Shaikh, 30, and Sujan Anil Das, 28, last month, according to Ghatkopar police.

During interrogation, it was learnt that the accused operated in a group of two to three people and apart from people in Ghatkopar, they also had victims in Andheri, Matunga, Vile Parle, Trombay, RCF, Wadala and Mankhurd.

One of the suspects, Obedullah Shaikh, was earlier arrested by Sakinaka police in a similar case. Both the accused are in police custody till Wednesday.

According to the police, the complainant, Mohammad Tayub Khalil Khan, 63, a taxi driver and a resident of Wadala, claimed that on July 10, one of the accused approached him in Dadar with a note of 100 dirhams and wanted to exchange it with Indian currency.

He took him to a nearby jewellery shop where he was told that the value of 100 dirhams would be ₹1,150. The taxi driver returned with dirhams and told the accused that he would give him ₹600 in exchange. The person agreed so Khan gave him ₹600 and took 100 dirhams, said a police officer.

The accused then took the taxi driver’s mobile number, and he also gave his contact information to him.

Khan then discussed with other taxi drivers where he could exchange the dirhams, they suggested at the airport. Khan went there and exchanged 100 dirhams with ₹2,100, said Padmakar Patil, sub inspector, Ghatkopar police station.

After a few days, the accused called Khan again and said he had 1,000 notes of 100 dirhams and he wanted to exchange with Indian currency and required ₹1.5 lakh only.

Believing it could be profitable, Khan asked the accused to give him a few days to arrange money. The accused then called on July 24 and they decided to meet in Ghatkopar. Khan arranged ₹1.5 lakh and met the accused on LBS Road near Shreyas theater in Ghatkopar (West).

Khan handed over the money to the accused and in exchange, the accused gave a packet which was wrapped in a plastic bag. After taking the cash, the accused and his associates left. When the victim opened the plastic bag there were only two genuine 100 dirham notes while the rest were fake, said Patil.

The victim then approached the police and a case under section 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) was registered against the unknown persons, said Patil.

“We scanned a CCTV camera near the crime scene and found their footage. The call data records were also scrutinised and we found several leads. After verifying, we learnt that the accused have been active in Mumbai since March and live in Nalasopara and Vasai, but they belong to West Bengal,” said Purushottam Karad, deputy commissioner of police.

“The accused duped another victim, an Andheri resident, after Khan’s case and fled to Delhi. A police team visited and nabbed Shaikh from Ajmeri gate in Delhi. He was questioned and found the lead of Das, who had returned to Mumbai. The police then arrested Das from Dombivali where he had gone to meet a friend,” said Karad.

The accused operated in a group of two to three members. Police said there were women in the groups, who would mostly act crazy, while the currency exchange was taking place. They did this to divert the attention of the victim so that he would not ask or try to verify the authenticity of the notes, said a police officer.

“While exchanging the currency, women would touch the notes or try to snatch them from the victim’s hand and as a result, the accused would leave the place early before the victim realises that he is being conned,” said a police officer.

“We have seized ₹40,000 cash and four mobile phones and 200 dirhams from the arrested people. They have targetted another taxi driver in Andheri and duped him of ₹2.65 lakh using a similar modus operandi,” said a police officer.