The police have arrested four persons on the charge of cheating a businessman here after gaining his trust by handing him a major share of the 100 UAE dirhams in their possession that he had helped in converting into Indian currency.
The arrested include Subhanakhan, 25, of Gujarat; S. K. Azanur Rahman, 27, Zhak Badshah, 26, and Muhammed Rafeeq, 25, all belonging to West Bengal. The racket was exposed after Babu Ismail, a businessman and resident of Thrikkannarvattom, lodged a complaint with the Maradu police about the racket.
The police said that the four accused earned the trust of the complainant after they requested his help in converting the UAE dirhams into Indian currency. The businessman was told that he can take ₹850 of the nearly ₹1,850 received after converting the 100 dirhams. The gang told him that they needed only ₹1,000.
The investigating team said that the businessman was impressed by the team. After the initial incident, he told the racket that he had ₹2.5 lakh in possession and would like to get it converted into dirhams. The accused assured him that they will be able to provide him with dirhams worth ₹3.75 lakh Indian rupee. The complainant had shared the information with his friend, who also provided a share of the ₹2.5 lakh that was handed over to the racket.
The police said that the accused cheated the businessman by handing over 200 UAE dirhams only and the remaining notes were fake. Vinod C., Station House Officer, Maradu police station, said that there were chances of similar complaints as such rackets could be widespread. The investigating team was led by Riju Thomas, sub inspector and senior CPOs Rajeev Nath and Arun Raj.
