PUDUCHERRY: A jeweller in Puducherry was allegedly duped of jewellery worth around Rs 88 lakh by a man who exchanged counterfeit gold bars under the pretext of a legitimate transaction. The Grand Bazaar police have launched an investigation into the case.
According to police sources, M Deepak Das (50), who runs a jewellery store on Bharathi Street in the town, was approached several months ago by a man who identified himself as Sandeep Jana, allegedly hailing from Salem in Tamil Nadu.
“The man visited the shop a few months ago and offered gold bars in exchange for jewellery. A similar transaction took place during a subsequent visit,” said a police official.
On Saturday night, Sandeep contacted Deepak once again and claimed to possess 1.8 kilograms of gold bars. He requested jewellery in return for the bars. During the meeting, he handed over the bars and began inspecting 880 grams of jewellery provided in exchange.
Deepak, however, took the gold bars to another part of the premises for testing. Upon examination, it was revealed that the bars were fake. By the time he returned to confront the man, Sandeep had vanished along with the jewellery, police said.
Following the incident, Deepak filed a complaint at the Grand Bazaar police station. Based on his statement, a case has been registered under relevant sections.
Police said efforts are on to trace the suspect and recover the stolen valuables.