Nine held for selling fake antique jewellery to doctors in Bangalore

Nine persons, including two women, have been arrested for allegedly selling fake gold jewellery, claiming that they were antiques. The victims were mostly doctors.

The police have seized about 25kg of fake gold from the gang. The accused have been identified as Ramalal, 29, Premlal, 37, Babulal, 45, Kumar Solanki, 28, Harilal, 20, Shankarlal alias Shankar, 21, Srinivas alias Seenu, 19, Mani Bai, 57 and Gouri Bai, 25, all residents of Ahmedabad.

The gang, which posed as street vendors, preyed on many people many in different cities. Its members frequently changed their locations. They duped doctors into buying what they claimed were antique jewellery excavated from hidden treasures.

Dr Chaitra, a resident of JP Nagar and one of the victims, filed a complaint with the police stating that a gang visited her clinic seeking treatment. The gang members offered to sell jewellery to her as they were in dire need of money. Later, she came to know that the jewellery was fake.

The JP Nagar police, headed by inspector SK Umesh, arrested the gang members from Ramachandrapura near Chandapura, on the outskirts of the city. Gang members confessed to have visited Dr Chaitra’s clinic. They consulted Dr Chaitra for various ailments for a couple of months. Earlier, they told Dr Chaitra that their relatives had stumbled upon a treasure while carrying out excavation work in Golconda, near Hyderabad. They claimed that the jewellery belonged to the British era and was worth a fortune.

Stating that they were in need of money, the gang members sold about 2.5 kg gold jewellery to Dr Chaitra and took `10 lakh from her, the police said.

Investigation revealed that the gang had cheated many other doctors in the city, including two under Madivala police station limits. With this arrest, the police claim to have solved three cases — one from JP Nagar and two from Madivala.

The police said many doctors were cheated by the same gang, but did not file a complaint. Some doctors told the police that if people came to know that they were cheated, it may sully their reputation.

The gang members are illiterate. They were part of a wide network which sold jewellery to doctors. The nine arrested were agents who had procured jewellery from a disposal gang in Gujarat.