Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru
Bengaluru, May 21: In a sensational gold heist resembling a scene straight out of a crime thriller, fraudsters allegedly decamped with gold jewellery worth nearly Rs 3 crore after luring a jewellery store manager to a fake office in Bengaluru under the guise of a lucrative wholesale business deal.
The daring fraud was reported from Sampige Road in Malleshwaram, where the accused escaped with around 1.85 kg of gold ornaments belonging to the reputed Mehta Jewellery showroom in Nagarathpet.
According to sources, the conmen executed the operation in a meticulously planned manner using the name 'Mahi Enterprises' to gain the confidence of the jewellery traders.
Police said a man identified as Paresh Soni contacted the owners of Mehta Jewellery claiming that his company was interested in purchasing a large quantity of ornaments at wholesale rates.
To make the transaction appear genuine, the accused allegedly installed fake signboards reading 'Lotus Jewellery' and 'Mahi Enterprises' outside an office premises in Malleshwaram that reportedly had no actual connection to his business activities.
Convinced that the order was genuine and commercially significant, the jewellery shop manager was instructed by the owners to carry nearly 3 kg of gold ornaments to the office on Sampige Road for inspection by the prospective buyers.
When the manager arrived with the jewellery, the accused allegedly pretended to examine the ornament designs before handing them over to an associate identified as Chandrashekhar, who was seated in an adjacent cabin, asking him to prepare a detailed list of the items.
In the next stage of the elaborate con, the accused reportedly took the ornaments into another room under the pretext of photographing the jewellery designs for final selection.
However, when the men failed to return for a long time, the manager became suspicious and checked the room, only to discover that the accused had vanished with the gold ornaments.
By the time the victim realised he had been duped, the trio had allegedly fled with jewellery worth around Rs 3 crore, leaving the traders shell-shocked.
“The accused created a fake office setup and used fabricated business identities to gain the trust of the jewellery merchants before executing the theft,” sources said.
Police have launched a search operation to trace the absconding accused, and further investigation into the high-value fraud is under way.