Inter-state gang arrested in Hyderabad silver cheating case; ₹15 lakh fraud unearthed
Accused duped traders using fake silver purity reports
Police trace gang across UP, MP after multiple complaints
HYDERABAD: Mahankali police in Secunderabad arrested four members of an inter-state gang involved in cheating silver traders by supplying spurious metal, officials said.
The arrests relate to FIR No. 52/2026 registered under Sections 316(2), 318(4) read with 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Fraud reported by local refinery owner in March
The case was registered on March 25, 2026, based on a complaint by Hiralal Verma, who runs a silver refinery business under the name Sri Jagadamba Industries in Mahankali Street, Secunderabad.
Verma stated that a regular customer, identified as Rajesh, visited his shop with another person and brought three raw silver bars weighing 3,425 grams, 3,420 grams and 3,316 grams, with claimed purity between 61% and 63.75%.
The accused also produced a purity report from a private refinery in Hyderabad. Trusting the customer, Verma exchanged 6,350 grams of refined silver bars of 60% purity.
Later testing revealed the material supplied by the accused contained 0% silver, leading to a loss of about ₹15,00,000.
Similar cases registered across police stations
Police said two more cases with a similar modus operandi were registered at Mahankali and Market police stations.
In these cases, traders were cheated of about 6.3 kg and 6.2 kg of silver respectively, with losses estimated at around ₹15,00,000 in each instance.
Gang operated across multiple states using trust-building tactic
Investigations revealed that the accused formed an inter-state gang operating across Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
The gang initially supplied genuine silver of 60% purity to traders in two transactions to gain trust. In the third transaction, they supplied fake silver with forged purity certificates and collected genuine refined silver before fleeing.
Arrests made in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh
Police arrested the prime accused, Hridesh Kumar, 59, in Agra on April 20, 2026, and obtained a transit warrant.
Subsequently, Sushil Kumar Varma, 62, and Prince alias Laddu Soni, 23, were arrested in Agra on April 21, while Rajeev Jain, 54, was arrested in Etawah. Another accused, Sonu Kushava, 33, was arrested earlier by Market police in Madhya Pradesh.
Cash, silver and mobile phones seized
Police seized 8.4 kg of silver, ₹1.5 lakh in cash and a mobile phone from the main accused. Additional mobile phones were seized from other accused.
Officials said Hridesh Kumar has a prior criminal record, including a cheating case registered in 2021 at Ashok Nagar police station in Madhya Pradesh.
Police team led by senior officers
The operation was carried out under the supervision of senior officers of the Secunderabad Zone. A special team led by the detective inspector of Mahankali police station tracked and apprehended the accused.
