Hunsur: The Hunsur Town Police have arrested a four-member gang that specialised in selling fake gold ornaments. The arrested persons include a woman and one more accused managed to escape.

The arrested have been identified as 25-year-old Shashikumar from Thuppadamadu near Nagamangala, 28-year-old Gomaya from Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS), Boti Umesh and a woman Putayi from Yeradane Pakshirajapura near Hunsur.

Police said that the kingpin of the gang is Shashikumar who used to identify his potential targets and make a call to them convincing that they had found a treasure full of old gold and offered to sell at a cheap price. With smooth talk, he used to lay a trap and convince the victims in such a way that they cannot refuse the offer.

Shashikumar had recently called Ali, a resident of Emmemadu village near Napoklu in Kodagu district and told him that they had found a treasure while excavating the earth using a backhoe (JCB). He told Ali that the gold weighed about 3 kilograms which would cost Rs. 1 crore and he would trade it for less money for the fear of Police and other law enforcement agencies.

Convinced by smooth talk, Ali informed Majeed, son of Moosa from Chonekere near Napoklu and they, along with two other friends, came to Hunsur. Shashikumar led them to the outskirts of Hunsur near a field at APMC. Shivakumar had already dug a pit at the field and had buried the gold there.

When Ali and his friends came to Hunsur, Shashikumar dug open the pit and showed them the gold. Along with Shashikumar, the other accused Gomaya, Boti Umesh, Putayi and one more accused Nishan were present at the spot. Later, Shashikumar told the friends that he could sell the gold for Rs.10 lakh. The deal was finalised and Majeed insisted that they wanted to check the genuineness of the gold.

Accordingly, the friends collected a piece of gold from Shashikumar after paying a token advance of Rs. 1,000 and showed it to a local jeweller who told them that the gold was fake. Immediately they informed the Police and a team headed by Sub-Inspector Shanmugham that went to the field near the APMC.

The Police team spotted all the accused walking towards the KSRTC bus stand and pounced on them. In the melee, Nishan of Yeradane Pakshirajapura managed to escape while other accused were arrested. They were later produced before the Court that handed them over to judicial custody.

According to Hunsur Town Police Inspector K.C. Poovaiah, the accused cashed-in on the people’s craze for gold. They spoke in fluent Telugu to give an impression to the victims that they were outsiders.

Usually, these people have a piece of genuine gold to convince the victims. When the victims verify the gold with goldsmiths and when they are convinced, these accused would hand over fake metal that has been painted yellow, Poovaiah added.