Rajkot: Five members of a gang that conned people in several states and Nepal using various tactics such as promising cheap gold and diamonds and even see-through goggles were arrested on the Porbandar-Dwarka highway.
The police were on the look-out for this gang for allegedly kidnapping a Porbandar-based jeweller and extorting Rs 20 lakh from him last month. The jeweller Pratap Pala had lodged a complaint on Oct 26 after the gang released on the payment of Rs 20 lakh ransom.
Those arrested are Bharat Lathiya (58), originally from Palitana and presently living in Nepal, Popat Odedara (38), Narendra Gauswami (38), Ashok Darbar (29) and Kamlesh Zapadiya (24).
Investigators identified Lathiya as the ringleader, who operated under various aliases including Guru, Bhanu Pratap, Birmanand and Bhargav Jani.
"Their modus operandi is to lure people with gold and diamonds at cheaper-than-market prices, glasses that show people nude, auspicious peacock feathers, conch and other such items. They have scammed people in multiple states and Nepal to," said a senior officer from Kirti Mandir police station.
In his complaint, Pala told the police that a man named Lakhman Sadiya had walked into his shop on Oct 18 and claimed to have connections with a big business group in Jaipur that dealt with Hong Kong gold imported via Nepal. Sadiya offered Pala gold at a 15% discount from market rates. Sadiya convinced Pala that he would only have to make the payment only after verifying the authenticity of the gold.
Pala evinced interest and decided to meet with Sadiya to inspect the gold in Jaipur. On Oct 19, Pala departed with Sadiya and two others for Jaipur and another person joined them from Gandhinagar. After visiting Nathdwara temple, they proceeded towards Jaipur. However, they stopped at an isolated place en route, beat up Pala and forced him to instruct his son to send Rs 20 lakh through angadiya. On receiving the money, they took away his mobile phone and send him off to Ahmedabad in a bus.