Hunt on for gang duping people on pretext of currency exchange

Mumbai: The Thane police is on the lookout for a group of conmen who allegedly cheat gullible people, promising to exchange their old currency with legal tender. The unidentified accused have come under the police scanner after demonetised currency amounting to Rs 4 crore was seized in five separate cases inside of a week. On Tuesday, police detained two Palghar-based businessmen who came to Thane to exchange old notes worth Rs 1.25 crore and Rs 96.5 lakh, respectively, after being contacted by the conmen.

In the first case, the police on Tuesday seized old notes worth Rs 1.25 crore. In the second case, police seized Rs 96.5 lakh. “We have already handed over these cases to the income tax department,” said an official.

Another officer said, “The detained businessmen revealed that they were contacted by some people who promised to exchange their old notes with legal tender.” Police came to know that the businessmen were in touch with some people from Thane who assured them of exchanging the old notes. Police is now trying to establish the accused’s identity, how they zero in on and contact potential victims, and whether they have links with persons associated with banks.

A senior crime branch official said, “In the past one week, our officials have seized more than Rs 4 crore in five incidents. While questioning these businessmen, they said they had received a call from some person about exchanging old notes. All these people who came to exchange notes are not from Mumbai or Thane. We have been investigating about the people who called these businessmen and lured them into exchanging their old notes with new ones.”