3 booked for duping man with fake gold & silver coins

The Panvel city police have booked three persons for allegedly cheating a 28-year-old architect from Kalwa with fake gold and silver coins worth Rs15 lakh on Tuesday.

According to the police, Nikhil Divekar met one Raju Prajapati outside his Ghatkopar office on November 8. Prajapati reportedly told Divekar that he found some gold and silver coins while digging a pond in Panvel, and that he was searching for someone to sell those to. He voluntarily gave Divekar one silver coin and asked him to meet up next evening if he wanted to check the remaining coins.

“Divekar took the coin to a goldsmith and got to know that it was of real silver. He met Prajapati next evening and checked some gold coins. Both of them went to another goldsmith and that time also it was confirmed that the coin was of real gold,” said Datta Patil, senior police inspector of Panvel police station.

Prajapati then told Divekar that he had a total 4 kg of silver and gold coins and would sell all those for Rs20 lakh.

On Tuesday morning, Divekar informed Prajapati that he would buy the coins and convinced him to sell those for Rs15 lakh.

“The accused then called Divekar to Panvel and asked him to meet near the ST bus depot. Accordingly, Divekar came to the spot in the afternoon and met Prajapati, his wife Gauri and one more woman there. However, before the handing over the money to them, Divekar wanted to consult a goldsmith as he was not sure about the remaining coins. Prajapati, his wife and the other woman were also ready to accompany him and they tactfully took the money from Divekar giving him the bag of coins. They then fled the spot in three different directions and got lost in the melee in no time,” Patil said.

It was not possible for Divekar to find out the culprits in the crowd. Finding no clue, he later approached goldsmith in Panvel and realised that all the coins given to him by the culprits were fake.

“Divekar doesn’t know the address of the culprits. However, we have registered a case under sections 379, 420 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code against them. We are investigating the case and hope to get hold of the culprits very soon,” Patil said.

ALL THAT GLITTERS...
Nikhil Divekar met one Raju Prajapati outside his Ghatkopar office on November 8. Prajapati reportedly told Divekar that he found some gold and silver coins while digging a pond in Panvel, and that he was searching for someone to sell those to Prajapati told Divekar that he had a total 4 kilograms of silver and gold coins and would sell all those for Rs20 lakh.

He called Divekar to Panvel. Divekar came to the spot in the afternoon and met Prajapati, his wife Gauri and one more woman there. Prajapati, his wife and the other woman tactfully took the money from Divekar and fled in three different directions.