Using demonetisation ruse, man, 55, cheats Delhi trader of Rs 2 lakh

A 55-year-old man was arrested for allegedly cheating a food grain merchant of Rs 2 lakh after tricking him into believing that the government is demonetising Rs 2,000 currency notes and has already launched new Rs 1,000 notes. The alleged cheat offered to exchange Rs 2,000 notes with the Rs 1,000 notes by claiming that he has managed to procure bundles of the new Rs 1,000 notes, the police said on Tuesday.

The conman, identified as Ajay Sharma, was arrested from his home at Sahibabad in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad on Sunday, a day after the food grain merchant from north Delhi’s Lahori Gate Naya Bazar filed a cheating complaint at the local police station, said deputy commissioner of police (north) Anto Alphonse.

“Sharma committed the cheating because he had lost several lakhs of rupees in gambling and was in need of money. We have recovered the complainant’s Rs 2 lakh from Sharma and a scooter he used in the crime,” said Alphonse.

On September 11, the police said the complainant was at his shop when around 3 pm an unknown man came there and was talking to someone on his cellphone regarding discontinuation of Rs 2,000 notes by the government of India. The man further claimed that he had bundles of newly published currency notes of Rs 1,000. He asked the person on the other side whether he wanted to buy new Rs 1,000 notes.

The complainant, who was listening to the conversation, asked the man if the new Rs 1,000 note had been launched by the government. The man confidently confirmed it and tricked the businessman into believing that the Rs 2,000 notes would soon be demonetised.

The businessman showed interest in exchanging Rs 2,000 notes worth Rs 2 lakh. He gave the amount in a bag to his staff member Vishnu Dutt, who left with the man on his scooty. After covering some distance, the man took the bag from Dutt and asked him to go inside a building and collect new Rs 1,000 notes of the same value from his associate, Sunil, the police said.

Dutt did not find anyone inside. When he got out, he found the man was missing too. Dutt informed his employer, who filed a case the next day. During the probe, the police found CCTV footage in which the suspect’s scooter registration number was visible, said DCP Alphonse.

“We found that the scooter’s owner was Ajay Sharma. His house in Sahibabad was raided. He was arrested along with the money,” added the DCP.