Hyderabad: Nine members including three junior artistes who were trying to exchange demonetised currency with new notes for a commission were arrested by the Suryapet police on Saturday. Police seized Rs 10 lakh currency in Rs 2,000 denomination notes from the gang.
Police identified D. Raghav Rao, a farmer from Prakasam district in AP, as the kingpin of the first gang. He gathered Rs 5 lakh in new currency from nearby villages and chose Suryapet to exchange it for old notes as it was located on the Vijayawada-Hyderabad highway.
He hired junior artistes M. Jivan Kumar, G. Narayana and K. Ramalinga Chary, apart from two others, D. Nageshwar Rao, farmer C. Raji Reddy, police said.
Based on a tip-off, the police nabbed them and recovered the money. Suryapet Superintendent of Police Parimala Hana Nutan said they had intended to innocent persons who want to dispose of their old currency.
They had planned to offer to exchange Rs 5 crore at about 20 per cent commission, she said. Their plan was to threaten anyone coming with a large amount of cash in the guise of police, and make off with the money.
Another three-member gang came to Suryapet on Saturday morning to exchange Rs 5 lakh in new currency for old notes. Police nabbed O. Lingeshwar Reddy, O. Anil Kumar and M. Naresh Kumar and seized the currency, mobiles and a car from their possession.
Student in gang robs exchanger
A student was among a gang of six persons arrested by the police for robbing a trader when he came to exchange new currency for demonetised currency at Malakpet. The gang had followed the victim, C. Santhosh Kumar, stopped his vehicle on road and beat him up before snatching the cash bag containing '5.7 lakh.
The police said one of the gang members had lured him to come to the city with the money by promising to fix a meeting with someone who would pay a hefty commission for the new currency.
“One of the suspects, Deshapaka Ravi Kumar, a student at Polytechnic College at Hayathnagar, called the victim and told him that a person wanted to exchange Rs 6 lakh in demonetised currency with new notes. He offered a five percent commission. Believing him, the victim came with Rs 2,000 and Rs 100 notes on December 13,,” said Dr. A. Ravinder, DCP East Zone
“On the instructions of Ravi, the victim came to Moosarambagh on his two-wheeler, keeping the cash box on the footrest. At Landmark Apartment, when he parked his bike, three persons beat him up, took the cash and the bike’s key and fled,” he said.
The police officer said the incident took place at 8.45 pm, and the other members of the gang kept watch over the area to prevent any passersby from coming to the victim’s rescue.
