BENGALURU: The special court for CBI and ED cases in the city sentenced 11 accused to six years of rigorous imprisonment and fined them Rs 65,000 each for involving in a dacoity in filmy style to loot lakhs rupees worth new currency notes of Rs 2,000, introduced after demonetisation, from gullible people.
Judge HA Mohan also directed the state government to confiscate Rs 54.11 lakh seized from the accused in the crime registered at the Kirugavalu police station in Malavalli taluk of Mandya district. The sentenced are Dilip, Ananda DB, Rajesh DM, Ananda, Umesh RK, Channakeshava C, Chaluvarajulu CS, Mahadevaswamy DR, Purushothama DR, Ramalinga and Babu DG, all from T Narasipur taluk and Ramanduru village of Kirugavalu Hobli.
“It is a fact that these accused persons are villagers and came from agricultural backgrounds and they were not so economically sound. Therefore, there was no chance for the police to submit a false investigation report against them, that too a case of this nature. It appears that their poverty is the reason for them to hatch out a plan to have wrongful gain by adopting this type of method having regard to the prevailing circumstances. But the act on the part of these accused persons cannot be accepted by the court of law,” the court observed, appreciating the efforts of public prosecutor Nirmal Rani TC for a fair trial.
The court noted that the witnesses, money losers, are equally responsible, though the complaint is not lodged against them, as they also tried to wrongfully gain and intended to defeat the decision taken by the Centre. They are not entitled to get back the amount and they also should suffer for their illegality, it said.
After demonetisation, the accused collected demonetised currency notes of Rs 1,000 and prepared wads of Rs 1,000 notes, which were kept in a box as if they were original to make the gullible people believe that they were demonetised currency notes. They promised victims that they would pay 20% extra in demonetised currency if new currency notes were given to them.
On December 12, 2016, one of the accused took the witnesses with Rs 67 lakh, containing new currency notes of Rs 2,000, on a motorcycle and dropped them near the car where the other accused was waiting on the pretext of giving old currency. They took away witnesses in the car which reached near Ramanduru in Kirugavalu police station. The other accused persons who were waiting there brought the tractor before the car to slow down the speed and began throwing eggs on the front glass, threw chilly powder at them and snatched away the bag containing new currency.