Ingenious fraudsters are on the prowl to dupe private bankers and pawnbrokers, who accept cheques and demand drafts in exchange for cash. Though many have been duped, they fight shy of filing complaints since the business itself is illegal.
However, luck ran out for a gang when they approached a pawnbroker in Jayanagar 9th Block. The pawnbroker, suspicious of their moves, alerted the jurisdictional Tilak Nagar police and this led to the arrest of five members of the gang.
One of the gang members, Rajiv Gupta, posing as a civil contractor, had approached Mahalakshmi Jewellers and Bankers in HSR Layout and encashed a cheque worth Rs. 7 lakh on a 15 per cent commission basis. Rajiv told the jeweller that he was working for a leading construction company, which had issued him a cheque. Since he was in urgent need of money to pay the salary of the labourers, he would like to encash it.
When Jitendra Joel of Mahalakshmi Jewellers and Bankers went to the bank to encash the cheque, he found it was a fake. He did not file a complaint, but circulated a WhatsApp message to fellow jeweller-bankers to beware.
Luck ran out for the gang when Rajiv approached Shanthi Jewellers in Jayanagar 9th Block. Suspecting something fishy, the jeweller alerted the Tilak Nagar police, who arrested Rajiv and four others, including the kingpin of the gang, Navaratna Sharma (27) from Rajasthan, said Tilak Nagar Police Inspector Sadiq Pasha. The police also arrested Dharmendra Ambavani (44) from Madhya Pradesh, Mohammed Sheikh (30) and Jokhim Joseph (32) of Delhi.
According to Mr. Pasha, Navaratna is a habitual offender involved in crimes across the country. Explaining the modus operandi, Mr. Pasha said that the gang would create Aadhaar cards using fake residential proof. They would open bank accounts using this and get cheque books, which they would fill up with relevant details of leading companies and builders, as if they had issued the cheques worth several lakhs. Using the forged cheques, they would target private bankers and encash it, believing that the victims would not file a complaint since their businesses are illegal. Many such cases go unreported.
However, this time, when the bankers started alerting each other on WhatsApp, it helped us crack the case, Mr. Pasha said.
Reporting by
Imran Gowhar
