Romanian man, disguised as woman, held with fake euros

LUDHIANA: The Punjab police arrested a Romanian man, disguised as a woman, on Saturday for allegedly possessing fake euros, European currency notes, and trying to get them exchanged for Indian currency from a store in Khanna, around 40km from Ludhiana.

The accused was identified as Simion, who is in his mid-thirties. He was staying in a rented accommodation at Samrala.

Khanna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Navjot Singh Mahal said the accused, dressed as a woman, went to a currency exchange store on Saturday and said that ‘she’ wanted to exchange 1,000 euros for Indian currency.

The store owner gave him Rs 79,000 in exchange of 1,000 euros but as soon as he started counting the bills, the accused tried to flee the shop. Suspecting something fishy, the store owner asked him to stop and recounted the money.

Soon, he realised that euros were fake. Later, it was also revealed that he was a man, dressed as a woman.

The SSP said an FIR has been registered against the accused under Section 420 (cheating) and 489-A (counterfeiting currency notes) of IPC at Khanna city police station.

During investigations, the accused claimed that he got the currency from a person in Romania but he was not aware that it is fake.

He said police are trying to find out why the accused came to India and since when he has been in the country.