Diamond merchant duped of ₹64 lakh by broker

Mumbai: The Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) police have registered a case on Monday against a 65-year-old diamond broker for allegedly duping a diamond merchant of ₹64 lakh

Mumbai: The Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) police have registered a case on Monday against a 65-year-old diamond broker for allegedly duping a diamond merchant of ₹64 lakh. The accused, Arvind Jain Kasliwal, a resident of Lokhandwala complex, Andheri West, had allegedly taken diamonds worth ₹64 lakh from the complainant merchant under the pretext of selling them to clients coming from Kanpur, said police sources.

HT Image

But the accused later allegedly escaped with the stones, duping the complainant. The accused has not been arrested yet, and police are trying to trace him, said a police officer.

According to the police, the complainant, Narendra Jain, 59, a diamond merchant, resident of Breach Candy area, south Mumbai. Jain runs a diamond firm in Bharat Diamond Bourse, BKC, Bandra East.

Jain alleged that he had known Arvind for more than two decades through a common friend and met at a diamond shop. Arvind claims that he worked as a diamond broker not only in Mumbai, but also in Agra, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, and Jaipur, Rajasthan, where he has many clients.

Jain further claims in his FIR that Arvind had earlier taken diamonds from his office for business purposes and to gain trust he paid the amount. On October 5 and October 9, he came to Jain’s office in BKC and said his clients from Agra wanted good quality diamonds, so he would buy from his office and pay the amount of the sold diamonds by October 30 and return the rest to him, said a police officer.

On October 23, Arvind came to the office and took five pieces of diamonds worth around ₹64 crore by promising that he would pay the money by October 30. When the complainant started calling him after he did not receive the money till October 30, Arvind kept delaying giving one date after another, added the officer.

Once the victim tried calling him, he started inquiring about him and learnt that he had sold his shop a few days ago and stopped visiting the diamond market in BKC, added an official.

Jain then approached the BKC police station and gave a written complaint. The accused have been booked under sections 406 (breach of trust), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant or by banker or merchant or broker), and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.