New Delhi, Dec 16 : Exploiting the greed of people to make easy money by buying US dollars at cheap prices, a gang of cheats duped them by passing off newspaper cuttings as dollars and then getting the victim raided by fake Crime Branch officers so that the genuineness of the currency was not verified. Two accused persons identified as Mohd. Yunush and Imran Khan, both residents of West Bengal, were arrested and Rs 1.70 lakh in cash, one bundle of newspapers with 20 US dollars and one scooty used in the crime were recovered. A complaint was received by the Special Staff of Central District wherein the complainant said that he is a taxi driver attached to Spice Jet Airlines and used to ferry crew members of the airline. A few days ago, 3-4 persons came in contact with him and offered him dollars at very cheap rates. Initially, they sold a $20 note to the complainant for only Rs 500 and also took his mobile number. The complainant then went to a money changer and exchanged the note for Rs 1300. Thereafter, the same persons contacted him again and convinced him to buy more dollars at similar prices. They offered him a total of 1,146 dollar notes. The complainant somehow arranged Rs 5 lakh and on December 1 reached a bus stand on Ring Road near the ITO flyover as per the instructions of the tricksters where they showed him a parcel of US dollars wrapped in cloth. "As the complainant handed over Rs 5 lakh to the alleged conmen, another 2-3 men came there and started threatening the complainant by posing as Crime Branch officials. On the advice of the alleged fraudsters, the complainant took the parcel of US dollars and left the spot. After some time, he checked the parcel and found that the contents were a pack of newspaper cuttings in the shape of US dollars while one $20 note was fixed on the top of the pack," said Sanjay Bhatia, DCP Central Delhi. During sustained interrogation, the accused persons disclosed that they along with their accomplices were living in a rented accommodation in Taimoor Nagar Ext., Khizrabad, Delhi. They used to procure SIM cards in bulk from their source by using fake IDs from West Bengal. They used these SIM cards on different mobile phones purchased at very cheap prices. As per their modus operandi, they prepared bunches of newspaper cuttings in the shape of US dollars and when any gullible person got convinced by them, they called him to a convenient place where some of their accomplices had stationed themselves beforehand. At the time of the delivery of the consignment and handing over of the cash, these accomplices threatened the victim by posing as Crime Branch officials so that the victim could not check the genuineness of the US dollars there. /IANS