The CBD Belapur police have booked over half a dozen people for allegedly cheating a road constructor from Gujarat, who wanted new currency notes that he planned to distribute as Diwali bonus to his employees. The constructor had travelled to Navi Mumbai in September to exchange his old notes for new ones. The fraudsters claimed that they had good relations with the RBI bank officials and duped him of Rs 3.5 crore.

The complainant, Babu Jayeshsingh Thakur, 45, is based out of Vapi, Gujarat and has a staff of 200 men working under him. Every year on Diwali, Thakur gives his employees a salary and a bonus. Since the last few years, his associate Ajay Mishra was helping him get new currency notes. In August, Thakur contacted Mishra, who in turn put him in touch with two other men, one of whom introduced himself as Vishal Viroja.