Mumbai: Bandra currency exchange firm owner ‘duped’ of Rs 6.5 lakh

A Bandra-based currency exchange firm owner was allegedly duped of around Rs 6.5 lakh after a man and a woman approached him with Saudi Riyal. The owner initially approached Bandra police station and after preliminary investigation, the case was transferred to Powai police station. The police said a woman, in her mid-30s, approached a taxi driver in Versova, showed him Saudi Riyal and asked him its value in Indian currency.

An officer said: “The taxi driver knew the Bandra currency exchange firm’s owner. After contacting him, the driver told the woman the value of Saudi Riyal in Indian rupees. The woman claimed that her grandmother had a lot of Saudi Riyal and she wanted to exchange those for the best rates.”

The taxi driver then informed the complainant, Vijaysingh Surawat, and later, they found the woman had around 40,000 Saudi Riyal. “The two parties agreed on a value of Rs 6.5 lakh in exchange of the Saudi Riyal. They decided to meet in MIDC at Andheri and both parties agreed to bring the cash and exchange it on the spot,” said an officer.
On December 14, the complainant went to Andheri, along with the taxi driver. “After they reached, Surawat was asked to enter a nearby building. The money had been kept with the taxi driver and he had been asked to hand over the cash only after Surawat’s indication,” said an officer.

A man purportedly showed the complainant a plastic bag with Saudi Riyal following which Surawat signalled the taxi driver and the bag with Indian currency was handed over to the woman who is yet to be identified.  “The complainant checked the bag only after he left for Bandra in the taxi driver’s car. It was then that Surawat realised that he had been handed a bag full of papers,” said an officer.

A case was registered under sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian penal Code. “Later, the spot was identified to be in the jurisdiction of Powai police station and the case was transferred,” said an officer.