21 December,2018 09:45 PM IST | Mumbai | Samiullah Khan
Bipin Gaikwad, the accused
The Dindoshi police on Wednesday arrested the son of a retired DCP for allegedly duping a city-based foreign exchange firm. Speaking about the modus operandi of the accused, identified as Bipin Gaikwad, the cops said he used to call up the foreign exchange firm posing as his retired DCP father, Vikas Gaikwad.
Posing as dad
The incident came to light when the owner of a Malad-based foreign currency exchange company approached the Dindoshi police station and registered a complaint in September. As per the statement he gave to the police, "In May, he received calls from a person posing as a retired DCP from Maharashtra. He said his son was going abroad and wanted to exchange currency for USD 1,000. They were told he'd make the payment through cheque."
A day later, Bipin came to the exchange office and showed the picture of his retired DCP father to the owner and also reminded him about their phone conversation. The owner followed the foreign currency exchange rules and gave him USD 1,000 and took a cheque of INR68,000 from the accused. But the cheque bounced the next day. When the victim called the 'DCP' about the same, he was told Bipin has mistakenly given the cheque of another bank. He then asked the victim for his account number so he could transfer the money.
Months went by, but Bipin did not transfer the money. The victim then approached the police. Finally, in September, the Dindoshi police registered a case against both Bipin and Vikas and started the investigation.
Cheated several companies
On Wednesday, they arrested Bipin. Vikas is currently in Pune; he's bedridden. While being interrogated, Bipin admitted to posing as his father in order to dupe the companies. He has allegedly cheated several such companies by using similar tactics all over Mumbai and other places. "We've booked and arrested the accused under section 420 of IPC. He was produced before the court and remanded in police custody for four days," said senior police inspector Rajaram Vhanmane from Dindoshi police station.
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