Mira-Bhayandar: 4 Arrested For Defrauding Victims With Fake Anti-Iron Making Coins In ₹8 Lakh Scam

The Naya Nagar police claim to have busted an interstate gang which duped people by offering anti iron making coins which had a potential to fetch high value in the market.

Four people including the kingpin-Kapil Sikoriya (37) have been arrested and booked under sections 318(4) for cheating and 3(5) (joint criminal liability) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.

The action followed in response to a complaint filed by a businessman who was duped of Rs.50,000 by the gang members who met him at a hotel in Mira Road. In a striking similarity to the rice-pulling scam, Sikoriya made a deceptive promise of making and providing anti-iron coins. Anti-iron coins are normally used in experiments that require expensive chemicals such as magnetic oil, stearic acid, sulphur and activation powder. Under the pretext of buying ingredients, the gang not only fleeced Rs.50,000 from the complainant but also staged the making process which ended with a passing test in which a needle repelled both sides of the coin.

To create an impression that the process was genuine the quartet sported gloves and masks while warning the target to maintain a distance as the chemicals were risky and could cause medical complications. When the complainant learnt that the coins were fake he registered a complaint. 

A team led by senior police inspector- Vilas Supe started investigations and arrested Sikoriya and his accomplices- Suraj More (41), Kiran Parmar (33) and Sunny Dutta (24). The quartet who have been remanded to custody confessed to duping people in Thane, Kolhapur,Vasai, Nallasopara, Chiplun, Pune, Latur and Bhandup using the same modus operandi.

Apart from the complainant, the gang had duped two others in the twin-city to the tune of Rs. 8 lakh, said the police who have also recovered the apparatus and chemicals from their possession. Further investigations were underway.