A 22-year-old member of an interstate gang, identified as Bhagwan Das of Mirzapur district, UP, was arrested for his alleged involvement in fake gold frauds and chain-snatching cases, police said.
The Sector 43 crime branch team arrested him on Saturday from IFFCO Chowk following a complaint registered at Kherki Daula police station. Police recovered six coin-shaped pieces of metal resembling gold and Rs 40,000 in cash from his possession.
According to police, the scam began on January 7, when the complainant received a phone call from two men who later met him at Bhangrola Chowk claiming to have found gold while digging. They offered to sell it at a cheaper rate.
On January 9, the complainant met them again, where the men showed seven coin-shaped pieces resembling gold and took Rs 1 lakh from him before leaving. The metal was later examined and found to be fake, prompting the complainant to approach the police.
Inspector Narendra, in-charge of Sector 43 crime branch, said Bhagwan Das is a habitual offender. “He and his associates used a planned modus operandi, approaching unsuspecting people with fabricated stories of finding gold and cheating them by selling fake metal,” he said.
Police records indicate that Bhagwan Das has 14 cases of theft and fraud registered against him in UP and is a history-sheeter of Vindhyachal police station in Mirzapur. He was produced before a court on Saturday and remanded to police custody for four days.
Efforts are ongoing to identify and arrest other members of the gang, police added.
