Two unidentified men duped an Ahmedabad bullion trader using fake ₹500 currency notes featuring Bollywood actor Anupam Kher instead of Mahatma Gandhi.
A police officer at Ahmedabad’s Navrangpura police station said the two men handed over ₹1.3 crore to Bharat Joshi, an employee of the trader, Mehul Thakkar, in counterfeit currency as part of a deal for 2,100 grams of gold worth ₹1.6 crore. “The men promised to return with the remaining ₹30 lakh but vanished with the gold before Joshi realised the notes were fake.”
Thakkar filed a complaint at the Navrangpura police station after discovering the fraud on September 24.
Police said Thakkar agreed to sell the gold after getting a call from Prashant Patel, a jewellery shop manager, with whom he had a long-standing business relationship. “Thakkar agreed to deliver the gold. Patel informed Thakkar that the buyer could not transfer the full amount immediately through RTGS and would instead provide ₹1.3 crore in cash, promising to transfer the remaining ₹30 lakh the next day,” the officer said.
On September 24, Joshi delivered the gold at an office in Navrangpura, which the men had set up just two days earlier. “Two men handed over 26 bundles of ₹500 notes, totaling ₹1.3 crore, and told Joshi to count the money using a machine while they stepped out to fetch the remaining ₹30 lakh. Joshi handed over the 2,100 grams of gold. When he started counting the cash he discovered the notes were fake with Kher’s photo instead of Gandhi’s. By then, the men had disappeared with the gold,” the officer said.
Police were investigating the matter relying on CCTV footage to track the suspects, who remained at large.
