Fake gold: Five more doctors who fell prey to con file complaints

Three days after Faridabad police arrested five members of a family for allegedly duping over 200 people from different states by selling them fake gold coins and bars for crores of rupees, five more doctors from Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad have approached the police alleging that same family had duped them of ₹50 lakh

Three days after Faridabad police arrested five members of a family for allegedly duping over 200 people from different states by selling them fake gold coins and bars for crores of rupees, five more doctors from Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad have approached the police alleging that same family had duped them of ₹50 lakh.

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Police said that gang used to dupe people into buying fake gold coins, bars, ornaments, and utensils after claiming that these were “Mughal-era artifacts” that were unearthed in Gujarat and Rajasthan during site excavations.

Narender Kadian, deputy commissioner of police (crime), said further questioning of the gang members has revealed details of more victims and police are in the process of verifying this information. “On Saturday and Sunday, five doctors approached police and identified the suspects. They also said the gang visited their hospitals for checkups and offered gold coins in lieu of consultation fee after three visits. In all, they were duped into purchasing 200 coins that turned out to be made of brass,” he said.

“The doctors have CCTV footage of these suspects when they visited their clinics and hospitals but did not complaint to police fearing ridicule for having fallen prey to such a brazen con,” he said.

A 35-year-old doctor, who runs a clinic in Faridabad, said a man in his early thirties consulted him on January 21 and then visited him twice more. “In one of the visits he came along with his parents, and they gave me a gold coin instead of cash and narrated a story about havelis, treasures and excavations. They seemed to be poor people and I thought of helping them. All their consults are registered in my OPD (out-patient department),” he said, requesting anonymity.

“They later convinced us to pay them ₹40 lakh for three kilograms of gold coins and the payment was made on February 13 at the Tughlakabad Metro station. They told us that they had given us the last of their coins and they had nothing left,” he said.

The suspects allegedly told him that they were leaving for their home town in Gujarat and will buy a small house there with the money he paid and work as daily wagers.

Police said in all the cases that have come to the fore, the suspects did not receive money in Faridabad and instead met with their intended victims at different Metro stations in Noida and Delhi.

“We have registered more cases against them, and we will help the victims to get back their money after recovering the same from their possession,” Kadian said.

Police said the kingpin Pyare Lal (52) lost his sister to prolonged illness and stayed back in Faridabad for rituals. “He revealed that he did not want to waste time and wanted to invest in a property for which he wanted ₹2.5 crore So he started targeting a few doctors in Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad. His next targets were three doctors in Delhi and four in Gurugram,” said Narender Sharma, sub-inspector (NIT crime unit), who arrested the suspects.