Bengaluru gold heist: Inter-state ‘bulk buyer’ gang members held

3 min readBengaluruUpdated: Jun 18, 2026 05:39 PM IST

According to Bengaluru police, the gang is involved in 14 cases registered in various states, and they follow the modus operandi of posing as customers wanting to buy gold ornaments in bulk.

The Bengaluru police have arrested two members of an inter-state gang involved in defrauding a gold business firm of Rs 3 crore, within four days after the May 16 heist.

The gang is involved in 14 cases registered in various states, and they follow the modus operandi of posing as customers wanting to buy gold ornaments in bulk and then defrauding businessmen of large quantities of gold, said Seemanth Kumar Singh, Bengaluru city police commissioner, while announcing the arrests this week.

The arrests of Paresh Soni, 49, from Gujarat, and Praveen Pappu, 44, from Maharashtra, led to the recovery of 1.08 kg of gold valued at Rs 1.64 crore, the officer said. Soni and Pappu, along with two missing people, enticed officials of Mehta Gold, located in the City Market area of Bengaluru, with the offer of bulk purchase of gold and allegedly fled with 1.8 kg of gold.

Mahendra Kumar Jain, manager of Mehta Gold, stated in the police complaint that he was informed that a person named Paresh Soni, who was operating a firm called Mahi Enterprises in Malleswaram in north Bengaluru, was willing to buy gold in bulk. Jain and another employee, Prakash, reportedly carried 3 kg of gold ornaments to the buyer’s address on May 16.

At the buyer’s address, Soni and two others — identified as Shyam and Chandrashekhar Rao — were present. Out of the 3 kg of gold, the buyers selected around 1.8 kg worth Rs 3 crore, Jain said in the complaint. During the selection process, Rao suddenly disappeared with the selected gold, while Shyam and Soni also followed suit, claiming they were going to locate Rao.

“The police pursued multiple leads and, based on credible information, arrested Soni near the flyover at Anand Rao Circle, Seshadripuram, on May 18. During interrogation, he confessed to committing the theft along with his associates,” the police said in a statement. Soni disclosed details about three accomplices involved in the offence.

“Based on his information, Praveen Pappu was arrested on May 20 in front of Prarthana Samaj, Mumbai. He confessed to his involvement in the crime and revealed that 220 grams of the stolen gold jewellery had been sold to a jewellery shop in Zaveri Bazaar, Mumbai,” the police said.

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Further interrogation revealed that portions of the stolen jewellery had been handed over to their friends residing in Chickpet, Avalahalli, and Guttahalli. “The police recovered 788 grams of gold from these locations between May 24 and 30. Efforts are underway to trace and arrest the missing associates,” the police said.