Chamoli police busts a gang duping people by taking real gold ornaments : A big racket busted
Chamoli police has busted a gang that was duping people by putting fake hallmarks on fake jewellery in Chamoli district and arrested two accused. Police have also recovered hallmarking machine and other equipment from the possession of the accused.
On March 19, 2026, a written complaint was given by the complainant, Mrs. Lovely Rawat, wife of Sandeep Rawat, resident of village Thang (currently resident of Dado), Jyotirmath, in Kotwali Jyotirmath.
It was stated in the complaint that in July 2025, she had mortgaged her nose ring and earrings for ₹40,000 at an interest rate of ₹2000 per month to Bunty Kumar, the operator of Aday Jewellers located in Upper Market Jyotirmath.
After returning ₹40,000 in November 2025, the jewellery was taken back by the plaintiff in December. When the plaintiff wore the nose ring and earrings, other people expressed suspicion that they were fake. Having doubts about the shine and quality of the jewellery, the plaintiff showed the said jewellery to other jewellers in the market.
There, they discovered that the nose ring and earrings were fake, having been cleverly hallmarked.
Given the seriousness of the matter, a case was immediately registered at Kotwali Jyotirmath under Section 316(2)/318(2) of the Indian Penal Code, Crime No. 09/2026. Superintendent of Police, Chamoli, Surjeet Singh Panwar, directed the formation of a special police team to investigate the matter quickly and effectively.
In accordance with the orders of SP Chamoli, a police team was immediately formed under the supervision of Deputy Superintendent of Police Chamoli Madan Singh Bisht and Deputy Superintendent of Police Karnaprayag Trivendra Singh Rana.
On 21 March 2026, the investigating officer Additional Sub Inspector Bhupendra Singh called the complainant to Kotwali Jyotirmath and interrogated her. Two fake nose rings and two earrings made of yellow metal given to her by the accused Bunty Kumar were seized and sealed. The accused Bunty Kumar was taken into custody and thoroughly interrogated by the police in which the accused admitted that he had fake jewellery prepared in place of the plaintiff’s original gold jewellery and returned it to the plaintiff after affixing a fake hallmark on it.
Another major revelation came to light during the interrogation. The accused told that Pankaj Kumar Prabhu, a resident of Karnaprayag, used to prepare low carat jewellery by affixing a fake 20 carat stamp on it and make it look like real hallmark jewellery, for which he also had an non licensed hallmark machine.
Based on the information, the police team reached Karnaprayag and, on the information provided by accused Bunty Kumar, Pankaj Kumar Prabhu was arrested from the Karnaprayag market. The machine and other equipment used for hallmarking were also recovered from the spot.
Sections 318(4)/338 BNS and Section 29 of the Bureau of Indian Standards Act 2016 have been added to the case for criminal breach of trust and fraud by using a fake hallmark.
Superintendent of Police, Chamoli, stated that the gold trade in Uttarakhand has traditionally been extremely important and reliable, but this incident has tarnished the image of businessmen involved in this sector. Furthermore, this is a serious case of fraudulently abusing the recently implemented standardization-based hallmarking system. As doubts arose about the reliability of hallmarking, the police took the matter very seriously and initiated a detailed investigation because the hallmarking process is duly conducted through the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), it ensures the purity of the jewelry. Police will verify all hallmarking centers operating in the district to determine whether they are duly authorized by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). Additionally, a detailed report regarding the case will be sent to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), detailing the entire process of fraudulent hallmarking.
Besides, the sources of purchase of hallmarking machines and other equipment by the accused will also be thoroughly verified, so that other persons associated with this illegal network can be identified and legal action can be ensured against them.
This serious matter has come to light in the border area of the district, which is being thoroughly investigated and the search for other persons involved in it is also on.
Considering the seriousness and national importance of the case, the Additional Director General of Police (Crime and Law and Order) has praised the commendable work of the police team. Furthermore, the Inspector General of Police, Garhwal Range, has announced a reward of ₹5,000 for the police team for their excellent work.
Arrested accused’s name and address:
1. Bunty Kumar, son of Muralid Swarnkar, resident of Mungeriganj police station and district Begusarai (Bihar), age 32 years.
2. Pankaj Kumar Prabhu, son of Vinod Prasad, resident of Gangachak Malkana police station, Masudi district, Patna (Bihar), age 37 years.
Seized:
1. Laser multipurpose machine worth approximately ₹2,50,000.
2. CPU, monitor, VGA cable, HDMI cable, power cable, board, and mouse.
3. One nose ring and two earrings (yellow metal) recovered from the plaintiff.
Police Team:
1-Inspector in-charge, Jyotirmath, Devendra Rawat
2-Senior Sub-Inspector, Karnaprayag, Sanjay Negi
3-Sub-Inspector, Satendra Butola (In-charge, SOG)
4-Additional Sub-Inspector, Bhupendra Singh
5-Constable Rajesh
6-Constable Chandan Nagarkoti (SOG)
7-Constable Ashutosh Tiwari (SOG)
