Thrissur: Kaipamangalam police on Saturday arrested a three-member gang for pledging 315 grams of fake gold ornaments 18 times in exchange for money. The accused are Basheer Babu (49) from Amandoor, Sreenarayanapuram; Gopakumar (54) from Chendamangalam, Paravur; and Rajesh (47) from Methala, Kodungallur. 

The trio scammed a total of Rs 14 lakh from the Edathuruthy Kisan Service Cooperative Bank.

The police had earlier arrested Basheer (47) in a similar case, after which several financial institutions filed complaints. Information gathered during this investigation helped the police apprehend the three men. 

The gang sourced the fake ornaments from Perumbavoor and Muvattupuzha, selling one-sovereign fake bangles for Rs 12,000 each, using them to obtain over Rs 1 crore from various institutions fraudulently, police said. The stolen money was used for gambling and other activities, police added. The cops have also identified the group involved in manufacturing the fake gold. The accused were presented in court. 

The arrests were made under the directive of Rural SP B Krishnakumar, led by Kodungallur DySP V K Raju, with the operation carried out by Kaipamangalam Police Inspector M Shajahan, Sub-Inspectors K S Suraj, Hariharan, ASI Mohammed Rafi, and Senior CPO Sunilkumar.