A 21-year-old businessman was conned into buying fake gold for Rs 13 lakh, police said. A complaint has been filed by Nikith Moolya, who runs New Mangalore Store on 26th Main, T Block, Girinagar.
According to Nikith, a man visited his store a few months ago, introduced himself as Shiva, and befriended him. On February 5, Shiva visited the store again and claimed that he was in possession of gold. He handed over a piece of metal to Nikith and asked him to check its authenticity.
After a jeweller confirmed to Nikith that the piece was pure gold, he asked his uncle, Prashanth Moolya, for funds to purchase the gold.
Nikith and Prashanth met Shiva on February 17 and struck a deal to purchase around 440 grams of gold worth Rs 13 lakh. The payment, in cash, was finalised on February 21. Soon they realised that the metal was not gold and they were cheated. Attempts were made to reach Shiva, but his phone was switched off.
A senior officer said a cheating case has been registered.