Delhi man held for duping people by selling fake gold-plated items

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police has arrested a man for allegedly duping people by selling them fake gold-plated articles that he claimed were antiques and excavated from historical sites.
Police said Atma Ram (43), a resident of Raghubir Nagar, ran a garment shop and would paint metal coins in gold to dupe people.
Police have recovered Rs 5.5 lakh from him and said he had recently duped the sum out of one of his targets.
Special commissioner of police (crime) Ravindra Yadav said his team had received information that a man had recently duped a shopkeeper in Vijay Vihar of Rs 20 lakh by selling him fake gold-plated antiques.
"A team laid a trap and finally arrested Atma Ram. During interrogation, Atma Ram disclosed that he runs a shop that sells old clothes in Raghubir Nagar to hide his illegitimate business. He showed people fake gold coins and claimed that these were excavated from historical sites. He also confessed that he had duped the businessman in Vijay Vihar, his cousin Ganeshi Lal and a woman known to Lal by using the same modus operandi," Yadav said.
He said that Ram and his aides portrayed themselves as skilled labourers and experts in excavation works. "They selected their targets and befriended them. They would later show them fake gold coins and claim they had found them during excavation. They would claim that they had such coins in bulk, worth Rs 70-80 lakh and offer to sell them at cheap prices. They would later flee," the officer said.