Woman, her brother held for cheating cab drivers in Pune

PUNE: The Pune city crime branch on May 1 arrested a woman (35) and her brother (27) from Yerawada, for cheating two cab drivers to the tune of Rs5 lakh collectively, in the last two months, by promising them US dollars in exchange of Indian currency.
Police was searching for the duo’s accomplice. Police said the trio must have cheated more cab drivers in the last few months. They got US dollars by exchanging Indian currency notes at different forex exchange centres.
On April 12, a driver (60) lodged a complaint with Dattawadi police stating the trio promised him US dollars worth Rs1 lakh and cheated him of Rs99,000. He got a bag filled with newspapers instead. Another driver (39) lodged a complaint with Vishrantwadi police on May 1 saying the trio cheated him of Rs4 lakh by promising US dollars worth Rs5 lakh on March 13.
One of the suspects would hire a cab and would give a US$20 or US$10 note to the driver while chatting. The suspect would tell the driver he had a bag of US dollars. The drivers would then exchange notes for Rs700 or Rs1,400. “The cab drivers would call the ‘passenger’ again and the suspects would promise a bag of US dollars against Indian currency,” an officer said.