A woman has filed a complaint alleging a man posed as a major of the Indian Army to win her trust and fraudulently obtain her ancestral jewellery to get a gold loan, police said.
The man neither returned the jewellery nor repaid the loan, resulting in the bank starting the process to seize the jewellery.
The woman has lodged a case of cheating and impersonation, said an officer.
Officers of Muchipara police station have started a case of cheating and impersonation on Friday, police said.
The woman, a resident of Purna Das Road, told the police that she met a man named Pratapaditya Mahajan who had introduced himself as a major in the Indian Army. He also had claimed that he ran an agro-based business.
“Pratapaditya Mahajan of Rajani Gupta Row, Amherst Street, Raja Ram Mohan Sarani, along with his associates, including a retired army officer, convinced the complainant to help Mahajan financially to run his business, the woman has alleged,” said an officer of Kolkata Police.
The woman agreed and parted with her ancestral jewellery at Mahajan’s residence at Rajani Gupta Row in Amherst Street, reportedly in the presence of his mother, the complainant has alleged.
Police said the accused man took a gold loan of ₹11,26,000, keeping the complainant’s jewellery as collateral.
“At the time of handing over the jewellery, the aforenamed accused persons promised to return my jewellery within six months. However, it has been over two and a half years since the jewellery was handed over to the accused persons. To date, the accused persons have not returned my jewellery. Lastly, upon contacting the accused persons, they have refused to return my jewellery and have threatened me with dire consequences. The accused persons have also blackmailed me of maligning my image if I further asked them to return my jewellery,” the woman stated in her complaint.
A senior officer said an investigation has been initiated, and the police have already contacted the bank to prevent it from auctioning off the jewellery.
“As the loan has not been repaid, according to the protocol, the bank can auction the jewellery. We have contacted the bank,” said an officer.