Labourer offers to sell 2.5kg gold for Rs2 lakh, flees with money

Buy 2.5kg gold for Rs9 lakh! A labour contractor from Navi Mumbai found it hard and foolish to resist this 'lucrative' offer recently. The labour contractor is now wiser after being tricked. Two of the three persons who had made the offer are now behind bars while one of their accomplices is absconding.
The arrested persons have been identified as Mudassar Sheikh, 38, and Ali Mandal, 40, both from West Bengal. The police are on the lookout for their accomplice identified only as Akrul.
Sheikh, who identified himself as one a former labourer who had worked for the contractor, said he had stumbled upon a treasure while excavating a site in Gujarat and wanted to sell this treasure to the contractor from Kamothe.
Without wasting much time, the contractor roped in his son, Siddharam Kamble, to seal the deal. On March 11, Kamble and a close friend were on their way to Colaba to meet Sheikh. Sheikh told Kamble that he had earlier worked for his father and had got in touch out of sheer loyalty to his former employer.
An officer from Cuffe Parade police station said that Sheikh met Kamble last week near Backbay bus depot. "Around 7pm, Kamble and his friend met Sheikh who was accompanied by Akrul. Sheikh showed Kamble some 'gold' chips. Asked about the authenticity of the gold, Sheikh unflinchingly handed over a sample and told Kamble to have its genuineness verified. Kamble's friend confirmed through a jeweller friend that the yellow metal was indeed authentic," said the police officer, adding that Sheikh had intentionally carried a genuine gold chip, anticipating that Kamble would want to verify its genuineness.
After a few minutes and much haggling, Sheikh an Kamble agreed to settle the deal for Rs2 lakh. He agreed to meet Sheikh and hand over the money on Sunday. On that day, Kamble came to the spot with three of his friends while Sheikh and Akrul were accompanied by Mandal.
"Sheikh and his two accomplices suddenly attacked Kamble and tried to flee with the bag containing the cash," said senior inspector Sharad Barde of Cuffe Parade police station. Kamble's friends, who witnessed from a distance what was going on, raised an alarm and started chasing the accused. A few personnel from Cuffe Parade police station who noticed the commotion chased Sheikh and his two aides. While they nabbed Sheikh and Mandal, Akrul slipped away. The police said they also managed to recover the bag which had the money.