Police have arrested ten people for allegedly cheating the public by collecting withdrawn Rs 2,000 denomination notes from unsuspecting citizens and promising to make it rain money through rituals. Police have seized Rs 18 lakh worth of discontinued Rs 2,000 notes from the accused.
The case began when the manager of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) filed a complaint in October, stating that certain Rs 2000 notes deposited at the RBI had tampered serial numbers and series codes. The Halasuru Gate Police then launched an investigation.
During the probe, police arrested the first accused from Cubbonpet on October 24, who admitted to depositing 40,000 such notes in the bank for a commission. He disclosed the identities of two associates, subsequently leading to their arrest near Mysuru Bank Circle.
Further interrogation led police to three more individuals who had handed over Rs 8 lakh in Rs 2,000 denominations to be deposited into their accounts through fraudulent means. These three were arrested near Majestic Bus Stand on October 25.
Investigations revealed that the group had been luring people under the pretext of performing a ritual pooja, claiming that if they gave Rs 2,000 notes printed in specific series M, N, O, P and G from 2018, the ritual would multiply their money a hundred-fold like rain. They allegedly convinced people still holding old Rs 2,000 notes to hand them over for this ceremony.
Police later arrested three more individuals from different parts of Andhra Pradesh on October 28, seizing Rs 6 lakh worth of Rs 2,000 notes from them. The investigation also resulted in the arrest of another man from Yeshwantpur, who was allegedly altering the serial numbers and printed years on the notes using specialised tools; these tools were recovered from his residence along with Rs 6 lakh in counterfeit notes.
In total, police have seized Rs 18 lakh in Rs 2,000 denomination notes and arrested ten accused, all of whom were produced before court on November 3 and remanded to judicial custody. Efforts are on to trace one female accused.
