Guwahati: Three people from Assam’s Lakhimpur district were arrested in Dinhata of Cooch Behar on Tuesday night for allegedly cheating a person on the pretext of selling gold bars to them at cheaper prices.
According to Dyutiman Bhattacharya, the superintendent of police of Cooch Behar, Manish Kumar, a resident of Ghuskuri in Bihar, got a phone call from an unidentified number on May 13.
The caller introduced himself as Raju and told him that while digging the ground he found a gold bar and wanted to sell it at a lower price than the current market rate of gold.
“The person had also sent a photo of the gold bar via WhatsApp message and after seeing the picture Manish agreed to buy it and reached Dinhata on May 15.
Manish met the three people who took Manish to their rented accommodation and showed him the bar.
They had a negotiation with Manish and he agreed to buy the gold bar for Rs. 6.54 lakh.
On May 19, Manish went to Dinhata again and purchased the gold bar after paying the said amount.
After Manish returned to his hometown in Bihar, he visited a jeweller who told him that it was a fake gold bar.
Manish immediately filed a police complaint and a case was registered at Dinhata police station.
On Tuesday night, a police team arrested all three who have later been identified as Safikul Islam, Fokoruddin and Enamul Haque, informed the police chief.
During the investigation, the police came to know that all three accused hail from the Lakhimpur district of Assam.
“The trio used to stay at rented accommodations in and around Dinhata. In a planned manner, they would make calls to different locations across India and would offer gold bars at lower prices. We suspect they have cheated a number of people in such a manner,” said a police officer.