Assam Police on Sunday arrested four Bangladeshi nationals for Silchar and seized fake Saudi Arabian Riyals. The Indian face value of the currency is worth over Rs 2 lakhs.
Six mobile handsets and five Bangladeshi passports have also been seized from them, confirmed police. The four apprehended Bangladeshis have been identified as Md Ripon Khan (32), Md Assad Udjjaman (39), Suman Fakir (30) and Jamal Munshi (35), while one Mohammad Kabir Sardar managed to flee from the spot.
The Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Sharma informed, “Their sinister design was to lure residents of this region for Indian currency in exchange of fake Saudi riyals and it was going on for the last month.”
“They had entered India through Tripura with bonafide Bangladesh passports and searched for baits in this region,” said Sharma confirming that all the accused were residents of Gopalganj area, located near Dhaka in Bangladesh. Speaking to Northeast Now, a digital bilingual news portal, the SDPO confirmed: “We have seized several SIM cards, mobile phones and fake Saudi riyals from them.”
The accused were involved in cheating one person last month. On Sunday they tried to cheat another person by exchanging fake Saudi Arabia Riyals with 2 lakhs Indian currency.
One victim confirmed to Northeast Now on conditions of anonymity: “I was approached to give them Rs 2 lakh of Indian currency in exchange for one lakh of Saudi Arabian Riyal which equals more than Rs 19 lakh and very tough to resist.”
Moreover, according to SDPO Sharma, all the accused have been sent to Silchar’s Sadar Police Station where they are being interrogated.