Dollar may have appreciated against the Rupee but beware when someone asks you to get the American currency exchanged for a decent commission in return. Pabitra Senapati, a small-time medicine store owner of Old Town, learnt it the hard way.
Lured into a deal to exchange over $24,000, Senapati paid the conman Rs 2.5 lakh only to get blank papers in the shape of the American currency. He had pinned hopes to make close to Rs 10 lakh from the exchange. After being duped, Senapati went to Khandagiri Police to lodge a case of robbery but during investigation spilled the truth.
Police said Senapati runs a small drug store in Old Town. A couple of days back, he was approached by the fraudster at his shop and the latter gave him a $20 dollar bill seeking its exchange. He convinced Senapati stating that he badly needed the cash.
When Senapati exchanged the $ 20 for Rs 1150, the fraudster gave him Rs 700 and kept Rs 450 as his share. He then said he had about $ 24000 dollars more and offered him a bigger deal. Police said Senapati was asked to pay Rs 2.5 lakh and take the entire $24000 for exchange.
On Sunday, he was asked to come to Delta Square to pay Rs 2.5 lakh and take the American currency for exchange. He paid the cash and got a bagful of dollars from the fraudster. When Senapati tried to open the bag, he was asked to go to some place quiet. The drug-shop owner went to Ashok Nagar area and opened the bag to find only a few dollars while the rest were blank papers.
Senapati could not provide any details of the fraudster to the police. In fact, this is the second such case in the last two weeks. A grocery shop owner of Sahid Nagar was duped in a similar manner by a woman.