Thrissur: A youth tricked a jewellery shop owner in Kaipamangalam on Tuesday and escaped with 8 sovereigns of gold ornaments. The incident happened at Swarnagopuram Jewelry at south of Moonupeedika Center around 3 pm.

After purchasing bangles, a necklace and rings worth Rs 5,67,700, the man claimed to have made the payment via NEFT through net banking. He showed a transaction slip on his mobile phone to the shop owner as proof. Since NEFT payments take time to appear in the recipient's account, the youth convinced the owner to trust him, allowing him to leave with the gold before the payment was confirmed.

The shop owner waited for an hour as the payment was still not credited to his account. He called the youth, who convinced him that the payment would be credited soon. However, after several hours with no payment, the owner attempted to contact the youth again, only to find his phone switched off.

Realising that he was scammed, he immediately approached the bank, only to learn that NEFT transactions cannot exceed Rs 2 lakh at a time.

Following the incident, the owner filed a complaint with the police, providing CCTV footage of the youth inside the store. The Kaipamangalam police have registered a case and started an investigation.

Meanwhile, other CCTV footage emerged showing the same youth attempting similar frauds at another shop in Moonupeedika and a jewellery store in Kodungallur on the same day. In the first store, he tried to walk away with gold worth Rs 2.5 lakhs without making the payment, but the staff refused to let him leave. After this failed attempt, he successfully carried out the scam at the second store.