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with the serial number of currency notes of Rs 2,000 denomination to give them a serial number that was already withdrawn from circulation by the RBI.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using Rs 2,000 notes (except the "O", "OO", "OP", and "OU" series printed in 2018 with consecutive serial numbers withdrawn from circulation), it would multiply the money a hundredfold and cause a ‘rain of money’,” Singh said.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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14 India-bound ships in Strait of Hormuz stopped by Iran; 1 hit by bullets, 1 crosses: Sources
New Delhi (PTI): A convoy of 14 India-bound ships carrying crude oil and gas were stopped by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) by firing at two of them while they were transiting the Strait of Hormuz, leading to 13 of the vessels returning to different locations in the Persian Gulf, official sources privy to the development said.
An Indian-flag carrying ship, which was hit by bullets fired by the IRGC while crossing the Strait of Hormuz, was carrying crude oil and a window pane was broken, forcing it to stop the journey and return. The extent of damage to the second vessel was not immediately known but it also had returned.
However, another ship, which was Indian flagged and loaded with crude oil for the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, sailed through the Strait and is now heading towards India, the sources said.
Two Iranian gunboats approached the targeted tanker and fired at it without warning. Gunboats approached the vessel 37 kilometres northeast of Oman, causing other vessels to return without completing the crossing, the sources said.
The incident was reported in waters between the Qeshm and Larak islands, they said.
Out of the 14 India-bound vessels, seven are carrying the Indian flag, four have the Liberia flag, two are of the Marshall Islands and one of Vietnam.
Six of them are loaded with crude oil, three have LPG and four are loaded with fertilisers. Among the ships, five are bulk carriers. All 14 vessels were sailing in a row.
Thirteen of them were stopped by the Iranian Navy and were instructed to wait. Out of the 13 stranded vessels, seven vessels are drifting south of Larak Island, waiting for clearance from the Iranian Navy, the sources said.
The Indian government is understood to have been coordinating with the Iranian authorities for the safe voyage of the stranded India-bound ships, they said.
The standoff over the Strait of Hormuz reportedly escalated again on Saturday as Iran reversed its reopening of the crucial waterway and fired on ships attempting to pass. This came as the United States pressed ahead with its blockade of Iranian ports.
Confusion over the Strait, through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passes, threatened to deepen the energy crisis.
The ceasefire between Iran and the US is due to run out by mid-next week.
Iran's joint military command said Saturday that "control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state ... under strict management and control of the armed forces."
It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.
