2 men, who abducted scrap dealer in connection with fake US dollars, arrested

Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru: Amruthahalli Police have nabbed two men who were allegedly a part of the gang that had abducted a scrap dealer after one of his ragpicking employee found bundles of fake American dollars (USD) near railway tracks in the city.

The police identified the accused as Sharavana and Bidan. Efforts are on to track the other members of the gang involved in the abduction, the police said.

Ragpicker SK Suleman, 36, residing in a Bengali labour shanties in Hebbal along with his wife, found a package wrapped in a plastic cover near the railway tracks on November 3.

Opening the package, he found 23 bundles of currency notes that were not Indian. Suleman, who earns around Rs 300 per day by collecting recyclable garbage, was scared at finding the currency notes and informed his employer, Touhid.

An activist from 'Swaraj India,' Kaleemullah helped the duo in handing over the counterfeit notes to the Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda.

The police sent the notes to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to check their authenticity. Later the HDFC Bank, the nodal bank appointed by the Reserve Bank of India to check the authenticity of the notes, found them to be fake.

These notes were either printed or photocopied, the police said. The investigating officers suspected the currency notes to be part of a ‘black dollar scam,’ a fraudulent scheme in which fake currency is used to deceive individuals during money exchanges.

Perpetrators typically provide recipients with these counterfeit notes, instructing them to clean them with chemicals. Victims are drawn to the large sums involved, only to be ultimately deceived.

The police suspect the possible involvement of African syndicates in this particular racket within Bengaluru. Meanwhile, on the night of November 7, Touhid was abducted by a gang of five unidentified men who sought the currency notes from him.

Despite repeatedly telling them that the notes have been handed over to the police, the gang tortured and assaulted Touhid for several hours. Later they dropped him off near Manyata Tech Park with a warning not to inform the police.

Touhid along with Kaleemullah alerted the Amruthahalli Police and filed a complaint regarding the matter. Based on this complaint, the police scanned the CCTV cameras around the place and nabbed two accused so far.