Iridium scamsters who duped many in TN, Kerala arrested

A gang of three men has been arrested for allegedly duping several people by offering to sell pots claiming they contained iridium, a rare metal, police said Wednesday.

An ordinary metal pot that was falsely claimed by the gang to contain iridium and Rs 14.25 lakh worth jewellery were seized from them.

Several people from different parts of Tamil Nadu, neighbouring Kerala and Puducherry had fallen victims to the racket with the gang members decamping with the money without delivering the pot, a police official told reporters here.

Explaining the modus operandi, he said, the gang would show a pot to prospective buyers and claim it has iridium.

A motor, concealed in the pot, will be activated using a secret button to create a vibration which was then cited by the gang as a special quality of the metal.

The gang which was originally involved in robbery and dacoity used to claim such "iridium pots" could fetch a "high value," in the market and had all along decamped after taking the money.

The racket was busted when police detained Alwin Prabhu, a history-sheeter on Tuesday on suspicion in connection with a case.

During questioning, it came to light that he alongwith two others, were allegedly involved in both robbery and duping people by offering to sell iridium pots.

The amount involved in the racket was under investigation, police said.