Kerala duo gives man fake diamonds, leaves with gold jewelry

KOCHI: Police have launched a search for two persons who duped an Ernakulam resident and his family by exchanging fake diamonds for gold jewelery worth Rs 50 lakh.

The central Ernakulam police, which has registered a case based on the complaint of the victim’s daughter, said the duo, Suhail and Shahid Ameen, posed as business partners of a reputed jewelery company and cheated the family.

The complainant said the family had placed advertisements on various media platforms regarding the sale of a property in Kaloor, Kochi. On April 17, Suhail and Shahid approached her father claiming to be business partners of a Kozhikode-based jewelry store. She claimed that the duo met the family on the pretext of buying land, gained their trust and subsequently the ‘opportunity’ to invest in diamonds. Police said the complainant, who is into interior design, was first offered a contract to plan the interiors of the jewelery chain’s under-construction store in Dubai.

“The duo informed the complainant’s father about ‘profitable diamond business schemes’ and promised to supply him with diamonds for the same. On April 18, they came to his office and showed him diamond samples. The diamonds turned out to be real,” the officer said. “The duo returned to the complainant’s father’s agent on April 20 with a portable safe, locked with a code. They showed him the diamonds inside and took gold ornaments weighing 90 sovereigns, worth Rs 50 lakh, from him,” the officer said.

“When the duo left, the complainant’s father tried to open the locker using the password provided but failed. The locker was eventually cut open. An inspection revealed that the diamonds inside were fake,” the officer said.