Hyderabad Police Arrest Four for Duping People in Hidden Treasure Scam

The Hyderabad police have arrested four men involved in a racket that cheated innocent people under the false pretext of locating hidden treasure buried beneath residential houses. The operation led to the arrest of prime accused Mohd Munawar, alias Munna, a 36-year-old painter residing in Gudimalkapur, along with three accomplices from Jawahar Nagar and Keesara.

The other three arrested individuals have been identified as Syed Ali Ashraf, a 40-year-old electrician, Mohd Haji, a 25-year-old auto rickshaw driver—both residents of Jawahar Nagar—and Mohd Salman, a 29-year-old bike mechanic from Keesara.

Following the arrests, police recovered two four-wheelers, an auto rickshaw, two motorcycles, four mobile phones, 25 duplicate fake gold coins, six kilograms of coal, and various pooja materials used by the group during their fraudulent operations.

Investigators revealed that Munawar initially started car denting and painting work after completing his studies to earn a livelihood. However, finding his income insufficient to cover his family's living expenses, he allegedly devised a plan to exploit gullible citizens by claiming he possessed special knowledge and the ability to locate hidden treasure buried underground inside residential premises.

To carry out the scheme, Munawar contacted his friends Ashraf, Haji, and Salman, explaining his plan to cheat people for easy money. All three agreed to join him in the illegal activity.

The group subsequently approached unsuspecting residents and represented that they could pinpoint buried treasure on their properties. After digging up the ground inside victims' houses, the gang planted a sack containing coal alongside duplicate gold-coated coins. The accused persons then absconded from the scene after using pooja material, assuring the property owners that it would take some time for the coal to convert into gold.