Basket Village USA
A 52-year-old trader from Pune has been defrauded of Rs 35 lakh after three suspected fraudsters promised to give him Rs 1 crore in Rs 500 denomination of new series and instead gave him gambling notes marked as ‘Children Bank of India”.
An FIR in the case was registered at Lashkar Police Station on Tuesday by the trader who has a business in the Pune Camp area. According to his complaint, he came into contact with three people during the last week of May. The suspects said they were in possession of new series Rs 500 banknotes and they could give him two notes for one Rs 500 note of notes in circulation.
Investigators said that as the trio gained the complainant’s trust, they managed to strike a deal with him to give Rs 1 crore in “new banknotes” for Rs 50 lakh of outstanding banknotes of 500 rupees.
They first took Rs 20 lakh from him and then called him to Bhuj in Gujarat. In Bhuj, the suspect further took Rs 15 lakh from the complainant saying that he would deliver Rs 1 crore in Rs 500 banknotes of the new series.
During the second week of June, the Complainant received a bag from one of the suspects and left his office. Assistant Inspector Harish Shilamkar, who is investigating the case, said when the complainant opened the bag, it contained game notes that read “Children’s Bank of India” or “Bhartiya Bachchon Ka Bank” for 500 points .
After several unsuccessful attempts to contact the suspects, the complainant finally approached the police. Police recorded an offense under the IPC sections relating to criminal breach of trust and cheating. A search has been launched for the suspects.
In June 2020, a joint operation by the Military Intelligence (MI) Southern Command Liaison Unit (SCLU) and Pune City Police Criminal Branch teams led to the discovery of huge piles of game notes in Indian and American currency. face value of Rs 87 crores in a bungalow in the locality of Sanjay Park in the Vimannagar region of Pune. The action had led investigators to an elaborate network of crooks and mules employed to “distribute” this fake money in exchange for real money through multiple modus operandi.
