From glittering lies to handcuffs: Fake gold fugitive caught working as labourer in MP

The accused had duped a local resident by claiming his friend had discovered gold while digging in Bhuj, luring the victim into a deal.
From glittering lies to handcuffs: Fake gold fugitive caught working as labourer in MP
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AHMEDABAD: Nine years after vanishing with Rs 9 lakh in a fake gold scam, a wanted accused in a serious fraud case registered at Kapodra police station in Surat has been arrested by the Crime Branch from Madhya Pradesh.

The accused had duped a local resident by claiming his friend had discovered gold while digging in Bhuj, luring the victim into a deal. He handed over one kilogram of fake yellow metal biscuits as part of the con, then disappeared without a trace, until now.

After nine years on the run, Surat City Crime Branch has arrested Mahesh Hamaria Tomar, the prime accused in a Rs 9 lakh gold fraud case, from Chikoda village under the Bakhtgarh police station limits in Madhya Pradesh’s Alirajpur district. Acting on a tip-off, the team tracked him down while he was working as a labourer, ending a near-decade-long manhunt.

Tomar had been absconding since 2016, when a case was first registered against him at Kapodra police station, his first criminal offence, prompting the court to issue a warrant under CRPC Section 70.

According to police, the complainant, Dharmesh Ramani, a labour contractor from Lakshminarayan Society in Surat’s Kapodra area, was lured into a trap by Tomar, who claimed that his friend had discovered gold during an excavation in Bhuj, Kutch.

To win Ramani’s trust, Tomar first gave him a sample of real gold and then convinced him to hand over Rs 9 lakh in exchange for one kilogram of what turned out to be fake yellow metal biscuits.

Tomar fled immediately after the deal, vanishing without a trace, until Crime Branch sleuths followed fresh leads to Andharkas village and confirmed his identity.

He has now been handed over to Kapodra police for further legal action. The accused faces charges of criminal breach of trust, cheating, and criminal conspiracy. Meanwhile, police have launched a probe to identify and apprehend his accomplices involved in the racket.

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