Udupi Police Bust Fake Gold Loan Racket; Five Arrested
UDUPI: Udupi district police busted a gang that allegedly promised fake gold ornaments to get loans from banks, arrested five people from different parts of the country and seized gold polishing equipment, computers and cash.
According to the complaint filed by the manager of Kattingeri branch of Karnataka Bank in Udupi, four separate cases were registered at Shirva Police Station under Sections 316(2), 318(4) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The accused are said to have defrauded the institution and pledged imitation ornaments such as real gold to secure bank loans.
Acting on the complaint, Udupi Police formed three special teams under the supervision of Kaup Circle Inspector after similar cases increased in the region. The teams tracked the accused to Bengaluru, Goa, Mumbai and Delhi and eventually arrested five people: Puneet Anand Kotian of Ambalpady, Sudeep of Tenkanidiyur, Ranjan Kumar of Katpady, Sarvajeet HK of Perdur village (all four from Udupi district) and Rajesh Dilip Patel of Pune.
Police seized cash of Rs 4.3 lakh, a laser machine and a computer used to print fake hallmarks on ornaments. The suspects, who were referred to the courthouse, were arrested by the court and sent to prison.
During interrogation, the police also found that the gang had defrauded banks in Brahmavar, Hiriyadka and Udupi city police limits by promising imitation gold jewelery in exchange for loans.
The operation was carried out by Karkala Police Deputy Inspector Dr. It was conducted under the guidance of Harsha Priyamvada and Kaup Circle Inspector Azmath Ali, with Shirva PSIs Manjunath Marabad and Lohith Kumar CS, Padubidri PSI Anilkumar T Naik, ASI Sridhar KJ and constables Kishore, Manjunath, Arun, Siddarayappa, Nagaraj and HC Nagara.
