BENGALURU: A retired Deputy Superintendent of police, who is allegedly the mastermind behind a robbery of Rs 80 lakh on November 25 has been detained by the police.
The detained has been identified as Babu Norohna. The police sources said, “One of the prime accused Lohith during interrogation spilled the beans about the involvement of Babu.”
The complainants Shivaram, Satish and two of his friends, who run a real estate business, alleged that one Akshay had contacted them over phone, and claimed that some of his friends had the demonetised Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes totaling Rs 1.25 crore. He had offered them 20 per cent commission if they were ready to exchange the notes for Rs 90 lakh.
Believing him, Shivaram, Satish and 14 of their friends pooled in Rs 90 lakh in Rs 2,000 and Rs 100 denomination notes. On Thursday evening, when they were exchanging notes at Satish’s house, three people arrived in a car and claimed that they were from the Central Crime Branch (CCB) and showed the ID card of Babu Norohna, who was supposedly standing outside.
On the pretext of seizing the cash, they loaded the cash bags into the car and asked the duo to come along with them. Meanwhile, in the midway they asked the duo to get down and sped away with the cash.
A special team has been formed to nab the accused and call records details are being verified.
“After the start of demonetisation drive, Babu had formed a team to carry out the operation to make money. Initially, they wanted to do it for commission. But in a greed to make quick money with minimal efforts, they chose this route,” police said.