Hazaribag: Four men from West Bengal allegedly duped a businessman from Barhi of Rs 14 lakh by selling him fake papers of a govt gold bond late last year. The matter came to light after Shiv Shankar Pandey (38) lodged an FIR in the matter with the Barhi police station on Feb 17.A resident of Chatro village in Barhi police station limits, Shiv Shankar in his FIR (case No 67/26) claimed that three men, including Montu Saw of Shitalapur Purban Burdwan district in West Bengal, Anil Rai and Suresh Pandey, befriended him at a petrol pump on the Barhi-Dhanbad Road in Nov last year.
The trio gained Shiv Shankar’s trust by discussing renting an excavator machine. Later, they allegedly lured him into an investment proposal by stating that they had access to the Centre’s Gold Bond 1998, valued at Rs 12.6 crore. The trio told Shiv Shankar that Rs 35 lakh was required to release the bond and assured him of substantial profit once the amount was withdrawn.Drawn to the proposal, Shiv Shankar reached Govindpur in Dhanbad with one of his associates on Dec 6. They were then taken to Asansol in Paschim Bardhaman district of West Bengal and was introduced to a businessman named Ajay Kumar. They were allegedly told that genealogy papers and a no-objection certificate were required to process the bond.Shiv Shankar then paid Rs 14 lakh to Rai and Pandey between Dec 14 and Jan 17 to various bank accounts linked to the duo. After receiving the money, the accused allegedly handed over documents purportedly related to a govt gold bond, along with a receipt, and demanded the remaining Rs 21 lakh.In the meantime, Shiv Shankar verified the papers and found them to be fake. He then rang up Suresh on Feb 6 and sought a refund. Suresh then allegedly threatened him with dire consequences if Shiv Shankar approached the cops. “The matter is under investigation. Action will be taken against those found guilty,” Binod Kumar, the officer-in-charge of Barhi police station, said on Thursday.
