Bengaluru: Police bust gang that tampered with serial numbers of Rs 2,000 notes to con people
Bengaluru (PTI): The Bengaluru police have busted a 10-member gang that allegedly tampered with the serial numbers of Rs 2,000 currency notes "to sell them" to gullible people at exorbitant prices, promising them that performing a "money rain ritual" using the notes of a specific serial number would be a boon and multiply their wealth, an official said on Tuesday.
The action followed a complaint filed by a manager of Reserve Bank of India at Halasuru Gate Police Station on October 17, and Rs 18 lakh worth Rs 2,000 denomination notes were seized from the gang, police said.
The complaint states, the gang tampered with the serial number of currency notes of Rs 2,000 denomination to give them a serial number that was already withdrawn from circulation by the RBI. A case was booked based on the complaint, they added.
Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh told reporters that the RBI says notes are original but the serial numbers are tampered with.
The gang sold the number-altered notes for Rs 4 lakh a piece, promising that performing a ritual using the notes of a specific serial number would bestow them good fortune and they would get "100-times more money", he added.
"The accused have been arrested at different stages. They confessed that they cheated their victims, saying that if they had Rs 2,000 currency notes bearing a specific number, they would get a boon," the officer explained.
The first breakthrough happened on October 24 when the police arrested a person at his residence at Cubbonpet.
"Upon interrogation, the accused confessed to having deposited Rs 40,000 at the bank, stating that he had received the money from two acquaintances who had promised him a commission. These two persons were traced and apprehended near Mysore Bank Circle on the same day," says a statement from the police.
However police did not elaborate on what was the role of this person in this web of crime.
More people were arrested from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh based on further investigation, he said.
"During interrogation, they confessed that they had cheated the public by falsely claiming that if they performed a special ritual using Rs 2,000 notes (except the "O", "OO", "OP", and "OU" series printed in 2018 with consecutive serial numbers withdrawn from circulation), it would multiply the money a hundredfold and cause a ‘rain of money’,” Singh said.
Our investigation team recovered Rs 18 lakh worth Rs 2,000 denomination notes, he added.
"All the accused provided information about the person who tampered with the serial numbers, note series, and printed year on the notes as per their requests. The individual was traced and apprehended from his residence in Yeshwanthpur on the same day. From his possession, Rs 2,000 denomination notes and equipment used for tampering with the note details were seized,” police said.
On November 3, all 10 accused involved in the case were produced in a court, which remanded them to judicial custody, police said, adding that a woman involved in the crime is still absconding, and efforts are on to trace her.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
