BENGALURU: A head constable and his three accomplices have been arrested by the Peenya police for allegedly cheating a retired bank employee of Rs 15 lakh by promising to provide rejected Reserve Bank of India (RBI) currency notes at a discounted rate.
The main accused, Nagraj, is a head constable attached to the Hiriyur police station in Chitradurga district. His associates, Kiran Kumar, Gajendra, and Prabhu, are all residents of Chitradurga. According to the police, Radha Krishna Naik, a retired bank employee was previously a neighbour of Kumar’s sister.
During visits to his sister’s home, Kumar befriended Naik and later claimed to possess Rs 50 lakh worth of rejected RBI currency notes. He offered Naik Rs 10 lakh worth of these notes in exchange for Rs 5 lakh in valid currency. Trusting him, Naik paid the amount in stages.
However, when notes were not delivered, Naik threatened to file a police complaint. Fearing action, the gang sought Nagraj’s help, who falsely informed Naik that Kumar had been arrested by the Hiriyur police for transporting illegal currency, the police said.
Investigation revealed that the gang did not possess any such rejected currency and had cheated Naik with a cooked-up story, the police added.