The Telegraph calcutta, india | Friday , September 17 , 2010 |

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100917/jsp/frontpage/story_12948253.jsp

‘Magic’ coin con nets 7 A STAFF REPORTER

Seven men from different parts of India were arrested at a star hotel in the city on Wednesday night for allegedly defrauding a Chennai trader of Rs 1.15 crore by promising to sell him an antique “magic” coin that they claimed was worth much more.

The gang had asked D. Prabhu to come to Calcutta so that they could extract more money from him, according to police. The Chennai resident realised that he had walked into a trap as soon as he met some of the gang members in the hotel and called the cops.

“Ugrasen Sahoo of Bhubaneswar, Atik Ahmed alias Samir of Bangalore, Gaurav Prasad of New Delhi, Bikash Singh of Jamshedpur and Baidyanath Sahoo, Sashidar Kumbhakar and Chaitanya Kumbhakar of Mayurbhanj, Orissa, were arrested on the basis of the complaint,” said Vishal Garg, the deputy commissioner (detective department — special).

Four coins, bundles of fake notes with one side blank and fake visiting cards were found on the seven. Their cellphones were also seized.

“In early July, Samir contacted Prabhu and told him that they could make crores by buying an antique coin belonging to Bikash and then selling it to overseas buyers. Ugrasen and Gaurav later got in touch with the trader pretending to be Indian representatives of a German company and offering to pay Rs 35 crore for the coin,” said an investigator.

Over the next few weeks, gang members met the trader at various places and demonstrated the coin’s magical powers by turning a blue liquid white and performing other tricks, Prabhu told cops.

Convinced that he was being offered a good deal, the trader had forked out Rs 1.15 crore as his share of the advance payment for the coin. He came to Calcutta this week ready to make further payment for the coin.