2 nabbed in Hyderabad for trying to pass old Turkish Lira currency notes

Hyderabad: Two tricksters tried to cheat people by distributing demonetised pre-2005 Turkish Lira currency notes, which is no longer in circulation, at Musheerabad.

The duo brought outdated currency nominally worth lakhs of rupees from Srika-kulam, told some people that it was genuine and offered to sell it at a cheaper price. One of the victims paid money and bought the currency, but later realised the notes were invalid.

Musheerabad police trapped the duo on Saturday and seized the Lira bundles.
Real estate broker T. Ratna Kumar, 55, of Narsapuram in West Godavari district and his friend P. Ramakrishna, 34, of Guntur, who works in a tobacco firm, were arrested by the police for alleged cheating. Police said the duo had Lira currency notes nominally worth Rs 10 lakh.

Police said the duo met one of the victims, C. Vishwanath, while he was shopping at Srinivasa Textiles, Ram Nagar, Musheerabad, and offered him the currency for Rs 1 lakh. The victim paid Rs 20,000 and purchased a part of the currency. However, later he realised that the note was no longer in circulation in Turkey or any part of the world.

“The duo had earlier met a person named Laxman Rao at Srikakulam, from where they brought the currency here,” said a police official from Musheerabad.
The two arrested men were produced in court on Saturday.