MVP Police on Wednesday arrested a four-member gang including two women on the charges of cheating a person by taking ₹1 lakh cash from him, promising to give him ₹3 lakh in counterfeit currency in lieu of the money.
The accused were identified as K. Padmavathi (43) of Vizianagaram, M. Lakshmi (46), M. Rajeswara Rao (60) alias James, N. Sivan Narayana (49), all residents of Visakhapatnam city.
According to City Police Commissioner R.K. Meena, James is a friend of one B. Nagesh, a resident of Peda Waltair. James reportedly told Nagesh that he knew some people who were in possession of fake currency. James told Nagesh that he could arrange ₹3 lakh in counterfeit notes if Nagesh would pay him ₹1 lakh in original currency, adding that the counterfeit notes looked very similar to the original.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Central Crime Station) D. Surya Sravan Kumar said that in order to convince Nagesh, the gang members took Nagesh to a petrol bunk for filling fuel and told Nagesh that the bill was paid in fake currency notes. However, the payment was actually made using original notes.
“This made Nagesh believe that he could also get away by paying people in fake currency. He fell for the scam and accepted their deal,” the Commissioner said.
Nagesh soon gave the gang members ₹1 lakh. But after the members including his friend James did not respond to his phone calls for over a month, he lodged a complaint with MVP Police on August 18.
Acting on a tip-off, the gang members were nabbed and about ₹1.40 lakh in cash was recovered from them.
“The gang did not have any counterfeit notes. They just cheated gullible people by using chemically coated original notes. Greed to earn easy money appears to lead people like Nagesh into such traps,” ACP Sravan Kumar said.
Police said that among the four, Padmavathi and Lakshmi have a couple of cases pending against them in Vizianagaram district. Investigation revealed that the gang has been committing such crimes for the last eight to 10 years. Legal opinion is being sought as to the role of Nagesh in the case.
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