All that glitters is not gold, banks learn this hard way

Division Number 7 police busted a gang of miscreants that had been duping banks by mortgaging fake gold to avail loan

Everything that glitters is not gold. The old adage holds true for Division Number 7 police, who busted a gang of miscreants that had been duping banks by mortgaging fake gold to avail loan.

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Five members of the gang have landed in the police net, while four are still out. The police have also recovered 90gm fake gold from their possession.

The arrested accused have been identified as Sukhwinder Singh alias Dimple of Jamalpur HIG flats; Deepak Kumar of New Shivpuri; Paramjit Singh of Bindra Colony; Paramjit’s wife Lata and Ajay Kumar of Nanak Nagar in Karabara.

Those yet to be arrested are Kulwinder Singh of Haibowal; Guddu of Bindra Colony; Jain of Shivpuri and another accused, who is unidentified.

Sukhwinder Singh is a jeweller and kingpin of the gang, the police said.

The police are also suspecting involvement of bank employees in the crime. Sub-inspector Randhir Singh, who arrested the accused, said Sukhwinder had befriended officials of various banks.

“He used to procure fake gold jewellery and send his accomplices to banks to avail loan against them. He was aware that for a loan up to ₹2 lakh, banks don’t scrutinise gold, but just consult a jeweller for formality sake,” he added.

“In a planned manner, he would visit the bank before or after his accomplices. Bank employees used to request him to verify if the gold was pure and he would easily befool them,” the cop said.

The sub-inspector said that Sukhwinder used to give anything between ₹5,000 and ₹10,000 to his aides after having his lion’s share of the money.

“Sukhwinder had availed gold loan through his aide Paramjit Singh and was trying to avail another loan in the name of his wife Lata,” the sub-inspector said. An FIR under Sections 420 and 120-B of the IPC has been registered against the accused, who were produced in a court on Thursday. The court remanded them to one-day police custody for questioning.