Man from Kolkata duped of Rs 16L in old notes

Post demonetisation, several cases of financial fraud have been reported in the national Capital. With severe cash crunch all around the country, people are taking to crime and duping others to fill their own coffers.   

A fresh case has come to light wherein the accused had targeted people who wanted to convert their old notes by luring them to deposit it into fictitious bank accounts.

Crime Branch unit of Delhi Police have busted an inter-state gang, with the arrest of three accused who cheated the complainant of Rs 16 lakh. The case came to light when the complainant, Hitender Doshi, a resident of Kolkata, reported that he had come to Delhi to deposit Rs 16 lakh in old currency notes. His friend, Shakti Gupta, convinced  him to deposit the amount in his IDBI Bank account at Ashok Vihar branch with the promise to transfer the same amount back to Doshi’s account.

On November 12, Doshi reached IDBI Bank along with Shakti Gupta. They were soon joined by the accused Harikesh Shukla. Doshi handed over the cash to the duo. Shukla went inside the bank with the cash but never returned. Through CCTV footage, it was revealed that Shukla handed over the cash bag to someone inside the bank and after that he and that man left the bank with the cash. 

On December 23, the police arrested the three accused — Harikesh along with his two aides Rajesh Kumar and Ram Lakhan.

During their interrogation, it was found that the accused had planned to dupe Doshi of his money and convert it into new currency notes at the bank. Rajesh Kumar was roped in due to his contacts in the bank as he worked as the Sales Officer there. 

On the day of the incident, Harikesh had handed over the money to Rajesh who was standing at the entrance. The money was handed over to Lakhan, who concealed it inside his jacket and left the bank.

“The accused later met in the evening and split the cash among themselves. Rajesh and Lakhan were given Rs 1 lakh. The rest of Rs 14 lakh was used up by Harikesh, who spent the money at his native place by paying off his old debts and donating a certain amount at a local temple. He then went to Mumbai where he led a luxurious life,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch), Ravindra Yadav.