Belagavi (Karnataka), March 17 A group promising to quadruple investors' money has been busted in this district with the arrest of seven people, including two police officers from Maharashtra, officials said on Tuesday.
Those arrested have been identified as Parashuram Bhimshi Badakari, Imran Babajan Junedi, Jayashree Babu Kamble, Manisha Raju Gaikwad, Ujwala Tulsiram Bilane, they said.
Other accused arrested include two police officers from Maharashtra — Anant Prakash Narawade and Dildar Rabbani Shaikh — who were part of the group, police said.
According to police, the fraudulent activities were being carried out from a house near a temple in the Srinagar area of Gokak town. The accused allegedly lured victims by claiming they could "double or multiply currency using chemicals"
The accused would take genuine currency notes from victims and provide a demonstration by placing Rs 500 notes along with blackened blank papers into a machine. The papers were then heated and treated with a powder to create the illusion of currency duplication, Superintendent of Police K Ramrajan told reporters here.
The victims were subsequently told to take the remaining sheets home and wash them to obtain more notes. By then, the accused had already fled with the original cash, he said.
Police have seized a heating machine used in the fraud, bottles containing black liquid, a bag with blank sheets, eight mobile phones and cash amounting to Rs 2,520 from the accused, he added.