Trader Offering Gold at Lower Rates for Akshaya Tritiya Flees

Nizamabad: A gold merchant reportedly duped customers of Rs 10 crore in Armoor town under the pretext of Akshaya Tritiya sale. The incident came to light on Wednesday when the shop of the gold trader remained closed and his whereabouts were not known. In view of the steep rise in gold prices recently, a few people expressed interest in buying gold for Akshya Tritiya at the older price and paid advance to the merchant.

A real estate businessman, government teachers, and a few other businessmen reportedly paid advance to the gold merchant, who ran a wholesale business in Armoor. In view of the gold price touching Rs 1 lakh for one tola, people paid advance. The wholesale trader began collecting money for the last one month in and around Armoor town.

For the last four days, the mobile number of the merchant was switched off and he was not available at home. A few people went to the home of the merchant and tried to pressurise other family members. Meanwhile, the father of the missing gold trader was admitted to a private hospital complaining of ‘health emergency’.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a jeweller from Armoor said on condition of anonymity that the missing gold trader began wholesale business recently. The trader’s family was known for ornamental stones business in Armoor, he said. There is exaggeration of Rs 10 crore advance payment, but it might be Rs 3-5 crore, he opined. Advance amounts may be stuck up elsewhere and the trader was absconding, he said.

When contacted, Armoor assistant commissioner of police Venkateshwarlu Reddy said that they did not receive any complaint on cheating of gold sales in Armoor. ‘We are verifying the details and after getting a complaint will register a case,” he said.

Meanwhile, the majority of victims have not come forward to lodge complaint sensing troubles from the Income-Tax department. A few others are hoping to wait for solving the problem soon.