Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Bhanwarkuan police arrested four persons - three of them belong to Jodhpur and one is from the city - for duping a city-based bullion trader of jewellery worth Rs 60 lakh.
The police also recovered 443 grams of gold worth Rs 60 lakh from them.
The trio from Jodhpur had a prior case of fraud registered against them at Sarafa police station, and the case is under trial. They had come to the city for the trial when they committed this crime.
According to police, complainant Aasit Hajra, a resident of Palhar Nagar, reported that an unknown caller contacted him requesting customised gold jewellery, saying that a relative would collect the jewellery.
On 15 November, the accused arrived and exchanged fake gold pieces for five authentic Rani Haar. The victim later discovered the fraud when the gold turned out to be artificial.
After the probe, police zeroed in on Sanjay Soni, a resident of Nagori Gate, Jodhpur as the main person behind the fraud.
Initially, police arrested Santosh Samai, a resident of Palhar Nagar. Based on information provided by Samai, police arrested Sanjay Soni and Gaurav Soni from Rishikesh, while Neeraj Soni was arrested from Jodhpur. Investigators found that the accused had melted some jewellery to make new pieces for personal use, and hid part of the loot in Jodhpur before fleeing to Rishikesh.
The police recovered 443 grams of gold (total estimated value Rs 60 lakh), including three necklaces, 50 grams of fine gold, a gold chain weighing 33 grams, and 2 rings weighing 14 grams.
