HYDERABAD: In what seems to be a sequence from an action thriller, an unidentified con man cheated an illegal currency exchange agent by giving him bundles of white papers wrapped with Rs 2000 notes, worth Rs 20 lakh in exchange to 30,000 USD. The victim Zafar informed police that the lone suspect had threatened him by firing in the air and pushed him and his friend out of the car and sped away.
Police while hunting for Ahmed, is also focussing on the hawala network, from where Zafar could have gathered the foreign currency in such a huge quantity.
Meanwhile, the incident had also grabbed the attention of DRI and other intelligence agencies, involved in investigating illegal foreign currency trade and hawala businesses, who are now digging into Zafar’s source of foreign currency.
According to police, Zafar is working as a salesman in a cloth store in the Old City and is also involved in illegal foreign currency business on a commission basis. On Thursday, he, along with his friend Rafi and Mohsin, had come to the Coffee Club at Gachibowli and met the suspect identified as Ahmed.
After making sure that amounts were ready, Ahmed asked Rafi to wait at the cafe, while the others started towards the Outer Ring Road, saying they will exchange the currency on the outskirts. After driving for about seven kilometers in Ahmed’s Maruti Suzuki Breeza car, Ahmed stopped the vehicle and handed over the packet containing Rs 20 lakh Indian currency and took the 30,000 USD packet, after which Zafar and Mohsin alighted from the vehicle and Ahmed sped away.
Minutes later, Zafar opened the packet and found the currency bundles were fake.
He rushed to Narsingi police station and lodged a complaint and a case under sections of 420 (Cheating), 506 (Criminal intimidation) and 384 (Extortion) of IPC were registered.