8 arrested for selling banned Turkish currency

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru: Oct 16, 2016, DHNS: A gang of eight men trying to sell the banned Turkish Lira has been apprehended in Sanjaynagar, north Bengaluru.

The suspects — one of them a practising lawyer — had laid their hands on 5 lakh Turkish Lira valued at Rs 1.07 crore. But there was a catch: the notes were banned by Turkey in December 2004. Nonetheless, they decided to dupe people by selling the notes at a discount.

On Thursday morning, police received information that the gang was active in Sanjaynagar. A special team of 10 plainclothesmen went looking out for it. But the suspects had disappeared. Around 11 am, police received another tip-off that the gang was moving around in Jaladarshini Layout, Sanjaynagar, looking for customers. This time, the plainclothesmen managed to catch up with it.

Posing as customers, they approached the suspects. But the men denied that they had the currency. It was after much reassurance and persuasion that the gang opened up.

Interestingly, the suspects offered a discount on the currency. This confirmed that they were dealing in the banned notes. The plainclothesmen nabbed them immediately, a senior police officer said on condition of anonymity.

The suspects have been identified as Eugene Prabhu, a practising lawyer, Mohan Kumar, Anthony Raju, Shiva Yogi, Shivashankar, Zameer Ahmed, all from Bengaluru, Shivaiah and Balamanadiletti, both from Andhra Pradesh. Police seized 98 Turkish Lira notes.

Balamanadiletti told the police that a person in Andhra Pradesh had given him the currency asking him to sell it and promised him his share. Balamanadiletti confided in his friend, Shivaiah, who warmed up to the idea. The duo roped in Ahmed, a real estate agent. The network was expanded when Prabhu, a lawyer from Lingarajapuram, came on board to help find prospective buyers. According to the officer, the suspects were aware that the currency they were trying to sell was banned. Police are now hunting for the suppliers of the notes in Andhra Pradesh. A team will be sent there to unearth the racket. Similar rackets were reported in Hyderabad and other parts of the country.