Mumbai: 2 Bangladeshis used cheap dollar exchange bait to con railway passengers

MUMBAI: After nabbing a gang of dacoits who were preparing to loot the Mahanagri Express at CSMT, the GRP’s crime branch stumbled on to a bigger fraud involving Bangladeshi nationals. Investigators said two Bangladeshi women, whose passport copies have been recovered, used to con railway passengers by offering to sell US dollars at cheap rates. Both women are on the run but two of their Indian aides are in police custody.
On October 15, the crime branch received a tip-off about a gang of dacoits hidden in bushes near CSMT, preparing to get into the Mahanagri Express by midnight and loot passengers. A team was formed and five men were taken into custody with two knives. The accused had planned to loot passengers and jump off the train when it slowed down. They were identified as Shafiuddin Mandal, 36, Akbar Khan, 34, Aamir Miya, 24, Maula Alam Vyapari, 28, and Monu Khan, 22.
Cops learnt Mandal and a Dombivali-based man, Aman Khan, had joined hands with two Bangladeshi women to dupe a Ghatkopar resident of Rs 4 lakh. At Aman’s home, the police found some dollars and passport copies of the women— Lata Akhtar and Batasi Akhtar. A probe revealed Lata had crossed over to Bangladesh on October 10. “After exchanging (rupees for dollars), the target would realise he was left with a wad of plain papers,” said senior inspector Uttam Sonawane.