A man has been arrested for allegedly duping a jeweller by exchanging fake gold with authentic valuables worth Rs19.43 lakh. Rakesh Bagla, 39, who apparently committed the fraud with a wrong identity, was caught a month later, with the help of CCTV footage, said the Borivali police. The jewellery obtained fraudulently by him will be seized soon, they added.
According to the FIR, Dharmesh Soni owns a jewellery shop in Borivali West. He buys old ornaments, remakes them into new designs and sells them. On May 9 at around 3.45pm, he had gone home for lunch when the accused visited his shop. Bagla handed over some jewellery to the saleswoman, Rita Vaghela, and expressed interest in exchanging it with new ones, said the FIR.
Unsuspecting, Vaghela gave valuables worth Rs19.43 lakh and when she sought PAN card, Bagla, who introduced himself as Vikrant Thakur, assured that he would bring it later, the FIR added.
Soni said that when he came back after lunch, he inspected the jewellery and was shocked to know that they were fake. Based on his complaint, the police registered a case of cheating and criminal breach of trust against an unidentified person and began an investigation.
Using the shop's CCTV footage and technical data, Bagla was identified, who confessed to the crime and was also identified by Soni's employees, said the police.
