The Bangur Nagar police have arrested two members of a gang for allegedly cheating a couple of gold worth Rs 2 lakh. According to the complainant, one of the accused who is currently absconding, had promised to provide gold at a rate lower than the market one, but instead he took the money and fled the spot without handing over the gold. According to the police, 21-year-old complainant Prashant Mane’s girlfriend informed him that the accused was selling gold at a cheaper rate.
She was informed by a friend of hers that the accused had promised to meet them at Malad and give them the gold if they were interested in buying. Mane is a resident of Ravivar Peth in Pune. He arrived in Mumbai on November 13 with Rs 2 lakh cash and the three of them reached Infiniti Mall in Malad. After a while a man arrived at the spot with a bag that contained a gold biscuit
He then asked Mane to show him the cash, which he did. But when Mane asked him to show the gold biscuit, he refused and a fight broke out between the two. Suddenly, a woman identified as Sangeeta Lokhande, 50, arrived at the spot, put an end to the argument and convinced Mane to give the cash to the accused and take the gold biscuit. When Mane handed over the bag to the accused, the latter took it and fled from the spot.
Suspecting Lokhande to be a part of the plan, Mane and his girlfriend forced her to stay with them and in the meantime informed the Bangur Nagar police. “We have arrested Lokhande and after she confessed to being a member of the gang, we nabbed her accomplice Sannit Mahadik from Bhandup. The accused who escaped with the money is still absconding,” said senior police inspector Shobha Pise from Bangur Nagar police station. “We are on a lookout for the third accused. Considering their modus operandi, it seems they have committed similar crimes in the past,” she added.
Surjitt Sahani
