Two held for duping Greater Noida man of ₹4.50 lakh on pretext of exchanging dollars

The Gautam Budh Nagar police on Monday arrested two suspects for allegedly duping a Greater Noida resident of ₹4

The Gautam Budh Nagar police on Monday arrested two suspects for allegedly duping a Greater Noida resident of ₹4.50 lakh on the pretext of exchanging foreign currencies.

Two held for duping Greater Noida man of ₹4.50 lakh on pretext of exchanging dollars

Police said that the two suspects are part of a gang that has been active for the last three years, duping several people in Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida, Indore and Surat.

The suspects were identified as Mizanur Sheikh and Mursaleem, both hailing from Burdwan in West Bengal, and currently staying in Delhi’s Seemapuri area.

According to police, a complaint was registered at the Sector 142 police station on Sunday by a Greater Noida resident, who alleged that two men had approached him one week ago, saying that they were carrying dollars but were not sure about how to exchange them.

“The two suspects had approached the complainant posing as illiterate labourers. They told him that they were given $15,000 by someone but don’t know how to exchange them. The suspects showed five notes of the foreign currency and offered to sell them to the complainant for ₹4.50 lakh,” said Uttam Kumar, station house officer (SHO), Sector 142 police station.

“The complainant thought it to be a great offer as he was getting cash worth ₹12 lakh at one-third price and decided to go ahead with the deal”, SHO Kumar added.

“The two parties met at an isolated place under Sector 142 police station limits on Saturday, where the complainant handed over ₹4.50 lakh to the suspects. In return, the suspects gave him a pack of notes tightly wrapped with a handkerchief after showing one dollar note inside. As soon as the exchange was done, the suspects fled with the money,” said SHO Kumar.

However, the complainant later found out that there was a soap bar beneath the tightly wound handkerchief. He then approached the police after which an FIR was registered at the 142 police station against the two suspects under the sections of cheating and forgery of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), police said.

“The suspects were tracked through electronic surveillance and were arrested from Sector 137 on Monday. Police recovered ₹41,500 along with foreign currency in dollars and Saudi Arabian riyals, two mobile phones and a knife from them,” said SHO Kumar.

The suspects were also booked under the Arms Act for possessing a knife. “The suspects have been committing such frauds for the last three years and have duped several people. However, they have never been arrested before,” SHO Kumar said. He added that their gang’s mastermind is based in Surat, Gujarat and he provided them with foreign currency notes that were shown to the victims.

The suspects were produced before a magistrate and sent to judicial custody, police added.