Trader dupes artisan of ₹5.5 lakh worth of gold in Ahmedabad’s Sahajanand Market

The Kalupur police have registered a case against a trader for allegedly duping a gold artisan of fine gold worth around ₹5.58 lakh by falsely claiming that the jewellery had been “stolen” while being transported to Hyderabad.

As per the FIR lodged by 33-year-old artisan Azibhul Hussain Sheikh, a resident of Jamalpur, the incident unfolded over a series of transactions in September this year. Sheikh, who has been working as a goldsmith for the past six years and runs a small workshop at Shop Ratanpol’s Sahajanand Market, stated that he was approached by a trader named Kamalbhai Jadav, who owns a shop in the same market.

Sheikh said that on September 15, Jadav contacted him with an order to make a set of small gold necklaces. Acting on the order, Sheikh prepared a 22-carat gold necklace weighing 45.780 grams, and on September 24, he handed it over to Jadav at his shop located on the ground floor of the Sahajanand Market.

When Sheikh later asked for the return of the fine gold balance, Jadav allegedly claimed that his “partner” was travelling to Hyderabad by bus with the gold necklace and that it had been stolen en route. He assured the artisan that once the stolen gold was recovered, he would return the due amount.

However, according to the complaint, Jadav soon became untraceable, his mobile phone was switched off, and his shop remained closed for over a week, raising suspicions. Sheikh alleged that the trader had deliberately deceived him and misappropriated the 43.260 grams of fine gold, valued at approximately ₹5.58 lakh.

The complainant told police that he had initially been introduced to Jadav by a neighbour, Mustafa, who worked at S.K. Press in the same market. Jadav reportedly claimed to have recently expanded into gold jewellery manufacturing and offered contract-based work to artisans.

Based on Sheikh’s complaint, the Kalupur police have registered a case against Kamalbhai Jadav, a resident of the Vejalpur area, under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) about criminal breach of trust and cheating.

Police officials said that a probe has been initiated to trace the accused and verify the claims of theft.