Former cop accused of heist, arrested in Bengaluru

Investigation of a robbery case led the J P Nagar police to former cop Noronha and a constable with the city crime branch. The duo along with another accused are being interrogated.

Retired Deputy Superintendent of Police, Babu Noronha was arrested by Bengaluru police on Wednesday over allegations of kidnap and robbery. The retired cop allegedly masterminded a Rs 80 lakh heist.

Investigation of a robbery case led the J P Nagar police to former cop Noronha and a constable with the city crime branch. The duo along with another accused are being interrogated. Noronha is said to have masterminded the heist misusing the cash crunch situation in the country post demonetisation.

The heist

The former cop and his team allegedly identified realtors or traders with accounted money and offer them a commission of 20 per cent to exchange old unaccounted currency notes with new accounted ones. Realtors Shivaram and Satish approached the police after they were robbed of Rs 80 lakh in new currency notes by men posing as police from the CCB. The duo received a call from a person named Akshay last Thursday asking if they would exchange Rs 1 crore in old currency notes with Rs 80 lakh in new currency with a commission of Rs 20 lakh. The duo, elated over making money agreed. They called Akshay the same evening to convey that Rs 80 lakh in new currency notes was ready.

Akshay visited Satish's residence in J P Nagar to check on the cash and called a couple of his friends to bring the old currency notes. However, the men who came later claimed to be officials of city crime branch and displayed Babu Noronha's ID card and claimed to 'seize' the cash. Satish and his friend was also 'arrested' and were being taken to the CCB office when the vehicle was stopped midway. The complainants were asked to alight from the car after which the culprits sped away with the money.

The south division police who arrested Akshay were led by his statement to former DySP Babu Noronha. The former cop is currently being questioned about his involvement in the case.

OneIndia News