Mid Day

Mumbai, Jun 2: A jeweller was arrested by the police yesterday for duping eight gold bullion merchants from Zaveri Bazar to the tune of over Rs 2 crore.

In their statement, the complainants have alleged that the arrested accused Praveen Punamiya (47), a resident of C P Tank, his father Achal Das (70) and brother-in-law Kantilal Parekh (45) were given pure gold bullions weighing over 21 kg between April 8 and 13, payment for which was pending.

But the entire consignment and the accused went missing.

The accused owns a jewellery outlet M/s Achaldas Rangraj & Company at Mumbadevi.    

According to Dinesh Rathod (32), one of the complainants, the accused was trading with him for the last two years. They initially bought the bullion in small quantities (1 kg to 2 kg) on a two-day credit period. On the third day, the payments were cleared by cheque and over the period, Rathod began trusting the accused.

In the second week of April, the accused bought two kgs of gold from Rathod, but the payment was not received, though the accused assured him it would be cleared shortly. Rathod believed them.

It was only when the accused did not open their showroom from April 14 onwards, that the bullion merchants began to get worried. It was then learnt that the accused had duped eight bullion merchants during the said period.

A case was registered with the L T Marg police station and since it was an economic offence of a huge value, the matter was transferred to the EOW. “We have made a headway into the case with the arrest of one of the accused from Zaveri Bazar.

Only during the custodial interrogation, the other facts would come to light along with the recovery of the booty,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (EOW) Dr Punjabrao Ugle.Praveen has been remanded to police custody till June 11.