Police have arrested five people for duping a man by ‘selling’ him a fake idol of Shiva as an antique worth crores.
Four of the five arrested are from Haryana, while one is a resident of Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, the police said.
The accused have been identified as Suraj Prakash, Sachin, Balwan, Sumit Gupta and Mumtaj. Mumtaj is a resident of Saharanpur, while the other four are residents of Karnal.
According to the police, Ved Kumar, a resident of Premnagar in Dehradun district, was approached by a man named Mumtaj last week. Mumtaj told Ved that he knows some people in Karnal (Haryana) who have an antique Shiva idol worth ₹25 crore. He lured the victim by promising to arrange the idol for him at ₹4 crore and also manage required documents. Believing him, Ved handed over ₹50,000 to Mumtaj as advance money.
On Sunday, the victim was handed over a fake idol of Shiva as the antique, the police said. The idol was decorated with stones to give it look of an antique idol, the police added.
When Ved insisted for the papers, the accused told him that they had forgotten to bring the papers from Haryana. They told him to make the payment and collect the papers later. After this, Ved became suspicious and informed the Premnagar police about the matter.
{{/usCountry}}When Ved insisted for the papers, the accused told him that they had forgotten to bring the papers from Haryana. They told him to make the payment and collect the papers later. After this, Ved became suspicious and informed the Premnagar police about the matter.
{{/usCountry}}Acting on the complaint, police arrested all the accused. The police have recovered ₹40,000 from the accused and seized the fake idol and a car from their possession.