Iranian trio steals cash from forex shop, 2 nabbed with CCTV video’s help

The arrested persons were identified as Ameer Ali (35) and Mohsen Elyasi (34) and the absconding accused was identified as Jason, all of them hailing from Iran. After investigation, Nungambakkam Assistant Commissioner Muthuvelpandi said that the trio reached New Delhi by flight on July 7 and boarded a train to Chennai.

On August 21, the gang entered the office of Guwahati Tours and Travels on Abbas Alikhan Ninth Street in Thousand Lights to exchange foreign currency. However, the negotiations failed and the trio left the premises. After sometime, the office staff found that Rs 35,000 was missing. They went through the CCTV footage and saw the trio taking the cash during negotiation.

Jain Shah, the owner of the firm, had shared the CCTV footage with the other forex firms and tour operators in the locality as many foreigners who come for treatment in private hospitals in the locality exchange the foreign currencies with them. Meanwhile, the gang visited another forex office in Thousand Lights on Saturday and the employees confirmed that it was the same gang that stole Rs 35,000 from Jain Shah’s firm with help of the CCTV footage.

When the trio tried to flee, the staff managed to secure two of them and handed them over to Thousand Lights police. They were remanded in judicial custody.

Explaining their modus operandi, Muthuvelpandi said that the trio would approach the forex firms saying that they want to exchange US or Singapore dollars. “When they are talking, one of them would take the cash from the staff on the pretext of checking if they were genuine currencies. In a flash, they would pocket some of the cash. Then, they would demand high rate for exchange and leave the premises without exchanging the dollars,” he said. Police suspect that the same gang has stolen another Rs 64,000 from a forex shop in Thoraipakkam and further inquiry is on.