Once bitten, twice shy: Owner catches thieves
The jewellery store where the duo struck
Two get caught when they tried to cheat pawn broker for a second time
Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.
— Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko in Wall Street
Rihana Begum and Jabin Taj were ardent fans of Gekko, it seems. Not only were they on a cheating spree –fooling bankers and pawn brokers while pledging fake gold ornaments – they were so confident about their game that they struck the same shop for a second time within 50 days of swindling the jeweller.
The modus operandi of the two is simple – they used to carry a genuine gold ornament and a replica of it using some cheap metal and polish. They give the original gold piece to the staff who test it to find out if it is fake or real and also to check the weight. Once the staff gets convinced about the ornament, the accused hoodwink them by replacing it with the duplicate one and walk away taking cash and also buying gold ornament.
“It is a big racket. The two are part of a bigger gang that operates in groups and targets shops during night when the staffing is sparse. They source or purchase the fake gold ornaments either from Shivajinagar or take the duplicate gold for rent from jewellery rental stores and pledge them at bankers and pawn broker shops. I caught them when they came for the second time to my shop. They had managed to cheat one of my staff members on January 28 and had taken Rs 10,500 in cash and also a 6.6 gram gold chain. After the first incident when I checked the ornament, I found it to be fake. Based on the CCTV footage of the incident, I remembered their faces. Even on the second time, they had come with fake gold. They threatened me but I managed to call the police and handed them over,” Lal told Mirror.
After the incident, the message was passed to other shops to be careful of the gang. The police have registered a case of cheating (IPC 420) and intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace (IPC 504).
“We are checking if the two are part of a bigger gang. The two have been sent to jail. At the time of the arrest, we had recovered four baby gold finger rings and five fake gold chains. Their mobile phones have been seized and we are going through the call details,” an official at Bandepalya police station said.
Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.
— Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko in Wall Street
Rihana Begum and Jabin Taj were ardent fans of Gekko, it seems. Not only were they on a cheating spree –
Begum, a resident of Islampura in HAL and Taj (34) tried to cheat owner Mohan Lal of Varalakshmi Bankers located at Muneshwara Layout on Kudlu Main Road on Wednesday between 7 to 8 pm. But Lal, who was alert after his staff was cheated earlier, identified them immediately and caught them red-handed when they tried to pledge fake gold ornaments. When the two tried to overpower the owner by hurling abuses and threatening him under dire consequences accusing him of false allegations, he raised an alarm drawing the attention of the neighbouring shop owners and was successful in holding on to them till the police arrived.
The modus operandi of the two is simple – they used to carry a genuine gold ornament and a replica of it using some cheap metal and polish. They give the original gold piece to the staff who test it to find out if it is fake or real and also to check the weight. Once the staff gets convinced about the ornament, the accused hoodwink them by replacing it with the duplicate one and walk away taking cash and also buying gold ornament.
“It is a big racket. The two are part of a bigger gang that operates in groups and targets shops during night when the staffing is sparse. They source or purchase the fake gold ornaments either from Shivajinagar or take the duplicate gold for rent from jewellery rental stores and pledge them at bankers and pawn broker shops. I caught them when they came for the second time to my shop. They had managed to cheat one of my staff members on January 28 and had taken Rs 10,500 in cash and also a 6.6 gram gold chain. After the first incident when I checked the ornament, I found it to be fake. Based on the CCTV footage of the incident, I remembered their faces. Even on the second time, they had come with fake gold. They threatened me but I managed to call the police and handed them over,” Lal told Mirror.
After the incident, the message was passed to other shops to be careful of the gang. The police have registered a case of cheating (IPC 420) and intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace (IPC 504).
“We are checking if the two are part of a bigger gang. The two have been sent to jail. At the time of the arrest, we had recovered four baby gold finger rings and five fake gold chains. Their mobile phones have been seized and we are going through the call details,” an official at Bandepalya police station said.
