Dollar dreams cost Ranip man Rs 2.3 lakh

AHMEDABAD: The greed for dollars worth crores landed a man in the snare of some conmen who swindled him of Rs 2.3 lakh. Jagdish Patel, the victim, who was equally eager to get his money back, called up the city police control room saying that he had been cheated. This made the cops look for the conmen disguised as sadhus.
According to Shahpur police, Patel, a resident of Ranip and an employee of a construction company, had got acquainted with a self-proclaimed sadhu."The so called sadhu used to roam around in the city with incense in hand," said police officials.
The man, after winning the confidence of Patel, told him that they had found an infant with a bag. "The man also told Patel that he doesn't know what was there in the bag," said inspector R S Patel of Shahpur.
On October 21, the man called Patel near Rani Rupmati mosque in Mirzapur and opened the bag in Patel's presence. "There were dollars in the bag and the man told Patel they would give the bag to him if he gave him some cash," said inspector Patel. The conman and Patel struck a deal for Rs 2.3 lakh. "On Wednesday, Patel and his nephew Nikunj Patel went to meet the conman near the mosque where Patel handed over Rs 2.3 lakh to the conman and took the dollar bag from him," said police.
However, later when Patel checked the bag he found that there were just a few dollars and the rest were pieces of paper. "Patel then called up the police control room and said he had been cheated of Rs 2.3 lakh," added inspector Patel.
When questioned by police, Patel narrated the real story. "We have registered a complaint against the conman and are hunting for him," said inspector Patel.