UMERKOTE: Umerkote police on Friday arrested four members of a gang for their alleged involvement in selling a brass conch to a person for Rs 3 lakh, pushing it as an item made of gold.
The accused are Chabindra Sahu of Shibaji Nagar in Umerkote, Ganesh Panka of in Dabugaon, Krishna Panka of Kodinga and Hirasingh Harijan of Dabugaon.
The complainant is Rajesh Palai of Alibadi village in Puri. Police said the accused and the victim met one another in 2021 in Berhampur. On September 18, one of the members of the gang named Pallav went to Puri and visited Palai at his house.
The duo then came to Pallav’s village Ekamba where Palai stayed for two days. During his stay, the accused showed Palai the brass conch and falsely mentioned that it was made of gold. Lured, Palai shared the matter with his father who then went to Umerkote and bought the conch for Rs 3 lakh.
When the father-son duo got the conch tested to check its purity, they were told it was made of brass and not gold. Umerkote SDPO Aditya Sen said efforts are underway to nab Pallav and other accused.