A seven-member gang posing as Income Tax officials conned a city financier into parting with Rs 7 lakh and 40 sovereigns of gold, police said today.
According to police, the gang went to the financier's house early in the morning of September 5 and asked him to produce his account books, cash and ornaments.
Threatening to arrest him for keeping "unaccounted for money", they took away the cash and jewellery and asked him to collect the same from their office on Race Course Road, police said.
The financier realised he had been duped when he went to the said office to reclaim his money and ornaments, only to be told that no officials from there had visited to his house.
He immediately lodged a complaint with police who launched a manhunt to nab the culprits.
Meanwhile, police said they have recovered from a gang member Rs 80,000 of the cash taken from the financier's house.
Police said a man was taken into custody for creating a ruckus at an ATM after his card got stuck inside the machine.
Upon checking by the guard at the ATM, it was found that the card did not belong to him. The man was then handed over to police.
During interrogation, it was found that he was one of the gang members who had struck at the financier's house, police said.
