An alert appraiser at the Elayavoor Cooperative Bank helped to arrest two members of a gang, who attempted to pledge fake gold at two banks. The police arrested Rijesh, 40, a resident of Mulanpara in Manjeri and V.S. Nidhish, who resides in the BSNL quarters.
Rijesh approached the bank for pledging 4 sovereigns gold for a loan of ₹1 lakh. However, the appraiser found that the gold given for pledging was fake. The bank officials immediately informed the police.
During the inquiry, Rijesh revealed that his accomplice, Nidhish, had attempted to obtain a loan of ₹90,000 from the Chovva Cooperative Bank by pledging fake gold. Following their arrest, it was revealed that they had swindled money from several banks in a similar manner.
The police suspect that there is a gang involved in duping banks by pledging fake gold. The police have sent alerts to banks to carry out stringent checking while granting gold loans.