Bangalore:
The Bangalore police have nabbed a group of five men from near Chamrajpet where they were waiting to dupe a businessman of Rs 5 lakh.
The businessman, Sudarshan, who is from Kerala, got a hint of their motive and tipped off the City Crime Branch (CCB) that arrested the fraudsters.
The fraudsters had hatched a deal with Sudarshan to exchange a chemical for Rs 5 lakh that could convert blank paper into US dollars.
The accused R Bhajantri, Gangadhar, Shankaragouda, Shivanna and Mathew, who hail from different places, have been sent to central jail. The police have recovered Rs 5 lakh from them and also a few chemical bottles.
Out of the five, Bhajantri, Mathew and Shankaragouda had met each other in central jail six months ago.
They were serving a sentence for separate offences in jail. Shankaragouda, who is known to be notorious in Doddaballapur, was friends with Gangadhar and Shivanna in the city.
Mathew, who is from Trivandrum, had cheated many people even before he got arrested. He purchased some expired chemicals from Trivandrum that are used as solvents in school labs.
Mathew had earlier managed to lure a group of businessmen by convincing them of the magic chemical theory and sold the chemical for Rs 5 lakh.
Mathew then hatched a conspiracy to dupe Sudarshan as well by informing him about the chemical.
They were waiting for Sudarshan near Chamrajpet, when the CCB arrested them along with the chemical.
The investigations have revealed that the accused are professionals in cheating and are facing several cases both in Karnataka and Kerala. They have cheated more than 10 people in different places.
The CCB officials said, "They used different chemicals claiming that the solvents could turn blank paper into currency, mainly US dollars.
They are professional burglars; we are investigating if there are others who have been cheated by them."