Duo sell coat button as diamond, held by Hyderabad police

Hyderabad: The city police on Wednesday arrested two persons who duped a businessman of Rs 1.2 crore by trying to sell a coat button as diamond. 

The accused were identified as Mohammed Ather Siddique, 52, of Asif Nagar and Mohammed Salam Khan, 39, of Medak. Both are into diamond business, the police said.  

The duo tried to dupe Shaik Haji, a resident of Sanathnagar. “Ather and Salam convinced Haji that they have a diamond worth Rs 4.5 crore with them. However, as they were in dire need of money, they were selling it for Rs 1.20 crore,” said Mr V.V. Srinivasa Rao, Hyderabad commissioner. 

On January 25, Ather and Salam stuck a deal with Haji and took Rs 1.20 crore from him. “After testing the purity of the diamond in the equipment brought by the accused, they handed over the fake diamond to him,” said the police. Later, when Haji wanted to sell it, he realised that he was duped.