Trichy: A four-member gang involved in cheating people on the pretext of selling smuggled gold bars in Thuvankurichi was arrested by Trichy district police on Thursday. R Saravanan, 42, of Pudukottai, M Perumal, 46, of Tiruvannamalai, J Anish James, 42, of Kottayam in Kerala, and N Sakthivel, 51, from Madurai were nabbed by a special team formed by superintendent of police (SP) V Varun Kumar during a vehicle check at T Poruvai near Valanadu in the morning. They were accused of cheating M Jiavuddin, 48, of Papanasam in Thanjavur district of Rs 14.5 lakh as well as another person of Rs 10.5 lakh. The kingpin Anwar Basha and three others are on the run. Varun Kumar told reporters that the gang lured Jiavuddin into bringing money to get the smuggled gold bars at a cheaper price, and snatched the cash by enacting a drama near Murugan temple in Mornimalai in Thuvarankurichi on Monday evening. Jiavuddin got acquainted with Anwar Basha through his friend Jegadeesh. Basha offered to give him smuggled foreign gold bars for low price in return for cash after showing him an original gold bar. As directed, Jiavuddin along with his friend N Karthi took along Rs 15 lakh in cash and went to Mornimalai temple. When he called up Anwar Basha, they sent a person from their gang and confirmed the cash being carried by Jiavuddin. Soon, a seven-member gang arrived at the spot in a car. One of them was attired in khakhi pants and a casual shirt as if they were a police team. On seeing police, Jiavuddin and Karthi fled the scene leaving behind cash. As soon as they left, the gang took the cash and left, said Varun Kumar. The SP said the gang also robbed M Balasubramani, 27, of Palakkarai of Rs 10.5 lakh using the same modus operandi. This happened near Santhanamadha temple in Manjampatti near Manapparai on January 28. The SP said the gang would fix the location in exchange of gold for money at a remote location in rural areas. On Thursday, police seized a gold bar for 100 grams, 10 fake gold bars, Rs 2.7 lakh cash, 21 mobile phones, 12 sim cards, fake documents, two cheque books, fake registration number plates, civil judge logo of Tamil Nadu government and a car from the gang. Stating that the gang could have operated in several places, the SP asked the affected people, if any, to come forward with the complaint.

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