**Balasore**: Two men were arrested yesterday morning from Dalanga and Badabodhi areas of the district on charges of selling spurious gold and Rs 3 lakh cash was seized from the accused.
The accused have been identified as 32-year-old Shyamsundar Ghadei (Bapi) and Tapan Kumar Mohanty (26).
Notably on December 27, one Gafar Ali Khan of Gunjarpur, Cuttack filed a complaint at Jagatpur Police Station stating that a miscreant named Bapi had approached him for sale of his hefty ancestral gold piece weighing 50 ‘tola’ as he was in need of urgent money for construction of his house.
Gafar with the help of his friend Ajaya Kumar Nayak purchased the gold in joint collaboration paying Rs 10 lakh each to Ghadei. Later, they discovered that the piece to be spurious containing no gold ingredients. During course of investigation, the gold piece was seized and was tested in the laboratory that confirmed the suspicion.
After months of investigation, the cops arrested Ghadei yesterday at 8 am following which he confessed to the crime during interrogation. Rs 1,75,000 was seized from his house. Another Rs 1,25,000 was recovered from Tapan Kumar Mohanty’s house who was a partner in the crime.
A case has been registered against the two under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating and dishonesty including delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code. The accused were forwarded to the court today.
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