18 months in the making:Fake-gold gang dupes jeweller of ₹20L, 2.86kg jewellery

Chowk police arrested 48-year-old Anwar, a resident of Hapur, near Janeshwar Mishra Park in Gomti Nagar Extension around 7.50pm on Tuesday. Three other suspects --Ashu, Musahid and Sarfaraz --remain wanted, police said.

: They allegedly spent nearly 18 months preparing for the perfect jewellery heist dentifying sarrafas, creating fake-gold bricks and even planning how to stay off the police radar. But a month after allegedly duping a Lucknow jeweller of 2.861 kg of gold jewellery and more than ₹20 lakh in cash, one of the accused has been arrested with ₹18.5 lakh and 217.48 grams of jewellery, police said on Wednesday.

The gang also allegedly preferred public transport and buses to minimise the chances of being traced through CCTV footage, police said. (For representation only)

Chowk police arrested 48-year-old Anwar, a resident of Hapur, near Janeshwar Mishra Park in Gomti Nagar Extension around 7.50pm on Tuesday. Three other suspects --Ashu, Musahid and Sarfaraz --remain wanted, police said.

According to police, the gang had allegedly prepared for the September 10 operation for around one-and-a-half years and had several Lucknow jewellers on its radar. Their alleged modus operandi was to pass off four bronze or other-metal bricks coated with a layer of gold as genuine gold and convince the jeweller to hand over jewellery and cash in exchange.

The target, police said, was jeweller Sanjeev Kumar Rastogi, who approached Chowk police after allegedly receiving the fake bricks and handing over 2,861 grams of gold jewellery and more than ₹20 lakh in cash to the gang.

Police said the accused used one mobile phone and SIM exclusively to communicate with a particular target. The phone was allegedly activated only after the gang reached Lucknow and was not carried with their personal phones or identity documents.

The gang also allegedly preferred public transport and buses to minimise the chances of being traced through CCTV footage, police said.

Investigators said the arrest followed surveillance and evidence gathered during the probe. Police have added sections 317(2) and 61(2) of the BNS to the original case registered under Section 318(4).

Police said ₹18.5 lakh in cash, in 37 bundles of ₹500 notes, was recovered from Anwar. They also recovered 217.48 grams of jewellery, comprising 24 bangles weighing 92.48 grams, five necklaces weighing 95.62 grams and a bracelet weighing 29.6 grams.

The recovery raises the possibility that the gang had not yet disposed of the entire proceeds of the alleged fraud, even nearly four weeks after the jeweller reported the crime.