Bhubaneswar: Commissionerate Police Friday busted a gang of conmen who have duped several people on the pretext of disposing of black money and gold. The accused were handing over bundles of plain papers covered with two genuine notes each and fake gold biscuits in exchange of money from the victims.
Police Friday arrested Prabhat Sahoo from Jagatsinghpur while two others- Pradeep Maity and Rrajendra Kumar Das- were held earlier. While Sahoo and Das belong to Odisha, Maity hails from the neigbouring West Bengal.
Regarding their modus operandi, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Anup Sahu said they would randomly call their victims, who were mostly from West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha, and inform them that they possess a large amount of cash with them earned through illegal means. They used to lure the victims informing about their willingness to dispose of the black money in Rs 100 denominations in lieu of a much lower amount. They would ask the victims to make payments only in Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 denominations and call them to a secluded place. They would leave the spot as soon as the deal is completed claiming that the cops were following them.
The current case in which the trio was arrested by Laxmisagar police was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by a person from Jharkhand. He was informed by the accused trio over phone that they had black money to the tune of Rs 10 lakh which they wanted to give to him in exchange of Rs 5 lakh. Subsequently, he reached an undisclosed spot here and handed over the money to them. Later, on checking, the victim found that they are not genuine notes.
He immediately lodged a complaint with Laxmisagar police who arrested Maity and Das August 18. Sahoo was arrested Friday.
Police later came to know that the conmen also duped several people by claiming that they had got some gold items and that it was illegal to keep the same with them. They informed the victims that they want to get rid of the gold by selling them at much less price.
In the process, they duped the gullible persons with fake gold biscuits or coins.
Police seized Rs 7.26 lakh along with the fake notes and 110 pieces of gold coloured brass biscuits from their possession.
The same gang had looted a person of Puri in 2012. The DCP also urged others who have been cheated in similar fashion to come forward and lodge complaints at the police stations.