MUMBAI: A 34-year-old woman has been arrested by the Mumbai Police for allegedly duping jewellers by mortgaging fake gold coins and disappearing after collecting cash from them, an official said on Wednesday.
According to the Kurla police station official, the woman, identified as Asha Hitesh Lodha, resided in a plush housing society in suburban Dahisar and was arrested recently after she targeted a jeweller.
A few days ago, the woman went to a jewellery shop in suburban Kurla and mortgaged a 'gold' coin and collected Rs 20,000 against it after submitting her contact details, he said.
Later, when the jewellery shop owner closely examined the coin, he found it was fake and tried to contact the woman on her mobile phone, but in vain, the official said.
The shop owner lodged a police complaint against the woman.
The police managed to locate the woman and during interrogation she failed to give satisfactory replies to questions related to the cheating incident due to which she was placed under arrest, the official said.
During the probe, the police found that at the time of mortgaging the coin she had introduced herself as Netra Bokadia though her real name is Asha Lodha, he said.
The woman had used the same modus operandi to cheat several jewellers in the past and has multiple cases registered against her, the official said.
She has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 420 (cheating), and further investigation was underway, he added.
