Berhampur: In a novel plan, a dacoit managed to mortgage stolen gold to secure loans worth Rs 21 lakh in Ganjam district.
The plot was revealed after Berhampur police launched an investigation into a series of burglaries of gold ornaments in the city.
After a month-long operation, two dacoits were arrested and 540 grams of gold ornaments worth ₹25 lakh was seized from them. The accuse
d confessed to their involvement in no less than 15 burglaries.
“One of the dacoits was found to have opened an account with gold loan lending company. Over a period of time, he deposited stolen gold with the company to secure ₹21 lakh as loans,” Berhampur SP Pinak Mishra was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
“Customers pledge their gold ornaments as a collateral deposit to secure a loan. It is up to the loan providing companies to find out the source of gold being mortgaged. We have decided to expand the purview of our investigation to see if these companies have become a point for converting ill-gotten gold into loans,” the SP added.
Mishra informed that the two dacoits have confessed to investigators that they learnt of melting stolen ornaments into gold ingots from YouTube.