13 August,2024 08:18 AM IST | Mumbai | Shirish Vaktania
Kacchi’s son-in-law, Mukesh Solanki, has also been arrested; (right) Ganga Dharma Kacchi roamed the Carter Road area for a month trying to befriend potential victims
The Khar police have busted a gang that targeted high-profile senior citizens and looted them under the pretext of selling them antique gold jewellery. The gang's modus operandi involved a 55-year-old woman befriending high-profile women during their morning walk.
After around a month of friendship, the accused woman would cook up a story about her children harassing her. She would claim that she wanted to sell all of her antique gold jewellery and to win the trust of the victim, would sell 2-3 grams of original antique gold jewellery to the senior citizen at the cheapest possible rate. After winning the trust of the victims, the accused woman would lure them to purchase gold worth lakhs. However, the victim was given fake jewellery in a box after the payment was made.
The accused woman, Ganga Dharma Kacchi, 55, and her son-in-law Mukesh Solanki, 25, hail from Nashik and the cops suspect that they are involved in multiple crimes. Two more accused from the same family are absconding. Kacchi and Solanki were produced at Bandra court and remanded to police custody till August 14.
A few days back, a 65-year-old woman from Carter Road was targeted by the gang. Kacchi was a regular at Carter Road in Bandra. She befriended the victim and started meeting her daily during her morning walk, starting July 17.
A police officer said, "On July 31, Kacchi told to victim that she wanted to sell her antique gold jewellery and that she had around 1.5-2 kg gold at her home. Kacchi also told the woman that she was frustrated with one of her sons and that she required money for her second son's marriage."
According to the officer, Kacchi offered to sell the gold at a rate of Rs 2,500 per gram. "To win her trust, Kacchi sold 2-3 gram gold jewellery to the victim at a lower price. The victim got these items checked by the jeweller and was told they were authentic. Kacchi then offered to sell the gold jewellery, amounting to 2 kg, for Rs 25 lakh," the officer explained.
A few days back, Kacchi arrived at Carter Road with a box containing the "gold ornaments". She showed it to the victim and collected Rs 25 lakh from her. "Kacchi instructed her not to check the gold on the road claiming that the police would cause trouble and asked her to get it authenticated by a jeweller," an officer said.
However, when the victim got the jewellery checked, it was found to be fake. She immediately contacted the Khar police and registered an FIR.
During the investigation, the Khar police checked the CCTV footage in the Carter Road area and found that Kacchi had been roaming the area for the past month and befriending elderly women. Under the guidance of DCP Rajtilak Roushan and Senior Police Inspector Mohan Mane, a team comprising API Datta Kokane and detection staff conducted technical investigations that led to the duo being arrested.
During the investigation, the police found that Kacchi resided in Kalyan while Solanki lived in Andheri. They had fled Nashik after a cheating incident. The cops traced them and also recovered around 80 per cent of the money the Carter Road woman had paid. The police investigation also revealed that the woman had borrowed the money from her relatives to surprise her son and daughter-in-law with the antique gold jewellery.
Rs 25L
Amount woman paid for fake gold jewellery
