TNN Sep 17, 2010, 01.10am IST
Times of India
KOLKATA: It was an audacious con job, and it almost worked.
On Wednesday, luck ran out for a group of con artists who had chalked out an elaborate plan to dupe an unsuspecting victim of crores. The players involved are from various parts of the country, and though their Kolkata connection is not yet clear, the sequence of events that led to their arrest was played out in the city
It all started when fruit exporter Danajia Prabhu of Andhra Pradesh wanted to act as a middleman in a deal involving "rarest of the rare antique coins" supposedly worth crores. Preliminary investigation revealed that he came in touch with a 27-year-old man called Atik Ahmed alias Samir of Bangalore, who claimed to have access to four "ujala blue coins" that could turn blue water colourless. Samir also claimed that the coins could fetch up to Rs 2,000 crore in the international market.
Samir asked Prabhu to look for a client while we would get in touch with the person who had the coins. It was agreed that Prabhu would get 15% of the sale price. Samir also suggested that Prabhu look for the client on the internet using the key words "ujala blue coin".
Prabhu found an "interested" person on a website. Berlin-based "Mr Muller of Elloco Cone Foxy Metal" was reportedly willing to pay any price to get the coins. Prabhu immediately shot off a mail to Muller, and got a reply saying he should contact the latter's India "representatives", Ugrasen Sahu and Gaurav Prasad. Accordingly, Prabhu contacted the duo and they decided that a demonstration of the coins to prove their authenticity would be held at a star hotel in Kolkata on August 11. At the same time, Samir informed him that he had established contact with the person Vikas Singh of Jamshedpur who had the coins.
Prabhu and his brother Dayanidhi Damodaran then decided to meet Samir and Vikas. However, just before the trial, Ugrasen and Gaurav called up Prabhu and told him that they were stuck in Delhi due to some urgent work. They advised him that he must not lose the opportunity and should "book" the coins after checking their authenticity. To ensure that there was no foul play involved, they asked Prabhu to take his own water and blue dye for the trial.
Samir, meanwhile, told Prabhu that he had got another client for the coins. So, even if Prabhu was not interested, he would not have any problems selling the " magic coins".
The trial, though, was held as planned but with only one coin. It was found that the coin could indeed turn blue water colourless. Prabhu told Ugrasen and Gaurav that the test was successful and the coins were genuine. He also told them that Samir had got another client and was ready to sell the coins for Rs 6 crore. Ugrasen and Gaurav then asked Prabhu to arrange for Rs 2 crore to "book" the coin and would come to Kolkata soon with Rs 6 crore.
Prabhu was given the bait that whatever he invested as booking amount would be his share and multiply when the final deal would be struck with Muller. Prabhu arranged for Rs 1.1 crore that night and gave it to Samir and Vikas. The coin was kept in a vault. One of the keys was with Samir while the other was given to Prabhu. It was agreed that all four coins would be handed over to Ugrasen and Gaurav through Prabhu only after the final payment. August 28 was fixed as the date for the final deal. It was also decided that all four coins would be brought that day.
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