4 held for selling duplicate gold bricks for Rs 10L

Swinging into action, Nabarangpur police on Thursday arrested four persons for allegedly duping a man and selling him fake gold bricks for Rs 10 lakh. On the other hand, three other persons involved in the fraud are on the run, police said.

Two of the accused are from Ichabatiguda area in Nabarangpur while the other two are from Khaliguda village under Dabugaon block. Police have seized Rs 4.60L, three mobile phones, knives and other sharp-edged weapons from their possession.

A manhunt has been launched to nab the absconders, police said.

The four accused were produced in court. Meanwhile, police have sought remand of the four accused to probe their involvement in other similar frauds. Police suspect the involvement of a huge racket in the gold bricks fraud.

According to police, the four accused called a youth from Berhampur to show him the gold bricks. However, when he asked them to examine the gold bricks, they threatened him with knives and extorted Rs 10L from him.

Jaya Krushna Behera, ASP, Nabarangpur said, “The accused confessed to their crime. But, we could only recover Rs 4.60L and the duplicate gold bricks from them. Police have also sued the knives and other sharp-edged weapons used to threaten the victim. Three mobile phones have been seized from their possession.”

“Efforts are on to nab the remaining three absconders. The remaining amount will be recovered after the absconders are arrested,” he added.