On Friday, the Kerala Police arrested four men from Gujarat for allegedly duping goldsmiths from Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, with a fraudulent claim of selling soil containing gold particles. The accused, identified as Sandeep Hasmukh Bhai (37), Vipul Manji Bhai (43), Dharmesh Bhai (38), and Krupesh Bhai (35), all natives of Surat, reportedly swindled the victims out of Rs 50 lakh in cash and cheques totaling Rs 18 lakh.
The arrests followed an investigation triggered by a complaint from the goldsmiths. According to the police, the accused had rented a building on North Janatha Road in Palarivattom and convinced the victims they had collected soil from a gold ornament factory that contained gold particles. The men packed the soil into 500 sacks and allowed the victims to collect a five-kilogram sample from them, which they placed on a specially prepared table with a hidden syringe mechanism beneath.
As the victims placed the sample on a weighing scale, one of the accused injected a gold solution into the sample through a pre-made hole, tricking the victims into believing the soil contained significant quantities of gold. Convinced, the goldsmiths paid Rs 50 lakh in cash and handed over two cheques to buy five tonnes of the soil.
However, upon processing the initial sample, the victims noticed an unusually high gold content, which led them to suspect foul play. They approached the Palarivattom police, prompting an investigation that involved reviewing CCTV footage from the crime scene. The police, under the direction of Kochi City Police Commissioner Putta Vimaladitya, arrested the accused after tracking their hideouts in the city.
Further investigations revealed that similar fraud cases had been reported in Tamil Nadu at the Senthamangalam police station and in Ernakulam North. The police are continuing to investigate the full extent of the fraudulent activities.
The accused were presented before a court and remanded to judicial custody as the investigation continues.
