AP man loses Rs 1.7 cr gold to ‘Iranian gang’ posing as cops

Four men posed as the Delhi police and cheated a man from Andhra Pradesh of 4.3 kg gold worth Rs 1.7 crore on Friday evening.

Kaus Mohammed who works for an Andhra Pradesh-based businessman named Kamalesh Kumar, reached Chennai with driver Dinesh Kumar.

They reached Sowcarpet to buy a gold bar weighing about 4.3 kg to be used in Kamalesh’s jewellery showroom.

When Kaus and Dinesh were on their way back to the car, they were intercepted by four men in two bikes who allegedly introduced themselves as officers from the Delhi police and declared that they had information Kaus and Dinesh were carrying weapons.

When the duo from Andhra Pradesh refuted it, the “officers” insisted on checking their belongings, including the bag with the gold bar. After the alleged search, the “officers” swiftly returned the belongings to Kaus and sped away. On checking the bag, Kaus realised that the gold bar was missing.

He then approached the Elephant Gate police and filed a case against the four men. CCTV footage retrieved from the crime scene reportedly showed the gang surrounding Kaus and Dinesh. “They could be seen stopping a few other people as well on the pretext of checking them,” said an officer.

The police suspect that the robbers could be members of an Iranian gang and have launched a hunt for them.

A senior police official said that the complaint is genuine and added other details would be known after the suspects are nabbed.

The last incident of crime by Iraninan gang in north Chennai was reported in January 2018, when they carried out a series of snatchingsin the locality.