Crime branch arrested three men for duping people with the promise that they could physically transfer money from one place to another with the help of black magic, for which they used to charge between Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh.
DIG Harinarayanchari Mishra said the main accused Manoj Pal of Kishanganj, and his two accomplices Sumit Saxena and Sanjay Kaushal used to target people who were superstitious and believed in black magic and power of tantriks.
Pal used to tell the intended victims that crores of rupees were hidden in a godown and used to show a video of the currency notes. It is another matter that only the top note in the bundle was real and the rest were fake notes. They told the victim that with the help of their tantrik they can physically move the money to another place. However, as they cannot take the money for themselves for some reason, they were giving it to them (victim) in lieu of the fees. With the help of small magic tricks, they used to win the confidence of the victim and after taking Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh as fees they used to disappear.
However, a Bhopal resident and news reporter Harshendra Chakrawarti got information about the scam from his friend Aditya and lodged a complaint with crime branch. It was decided that they would trap the fraudsters. With help of another friend Deepak Kanhai, who posed as a tantrik, they contacted Pal, who asked them to meet at a shop in Pigdamber. He showed them the video of currency notes and said they would charge Rs 50,000 for moving the money. Pal took Harshendra to his flat where Pal and his two accomplices threatened him to hand over the money. The crime branch team that was following them barged into the flat and arrested the accused. Police recovered 15 bundles counterfeit notes of Rs 2000 denomination and 230 bundles of counterfeit notes of Rs 500 denomination from the accused, and also the car used by them.
The gang leader Pal, told police that he himself was a victim of a conman following which he started conning other people. Police are questioning the gang members to get details of the people they have duped over the years.
