Hyderabad, June 26 : Cases have been filed against P. Suresh Kumar alias Surya Bhai, popularly known as the 'Gold Man' for alleged gold investment fraud, the Hyderabad police said on Friday.

Claiming to be a close aide of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Hyderabad Police Commissioner V.C. Sajjanar, Surya Bhai allegedly duped people by promising to supply imported gold at prices significantly lower than the market rate. However, after receiving the money, he allegedly failed to deliver the promised gold.

Police registered two separate cases following complaints by the victims.

There are allegations that he had collected Rs 32 lakh from one of the victims, promising to supply them with imported gold.

The victim said that when he failed to provide them with gold or return their money, they went to his house. He gave them three iPhones and a cheque for Rs 20 lakh, but later allegedly took back the phones by threatening them.

On a complaint, a zero FIR was registered at Attapur Police Station, and the case was subsequently transferred to Narayanguda Police Station.

A separate case was registered against Surya Bhai for lodging a false complaint. The police initiated the action after they found that he provided false information.

Police were conducting an investigation to determine the full extent of the alleged fraud and to identify whether more victims were cheated by the accused.

Surya Bhai, 34, a resident of the Attapur area, became popular on social media for flaunting gold jewellery. Wearing heavy jewellery with white attire and temple visits, he cultivated an image on social media platforms and came to be known as the 'Gold Man'.

He came under the income tax scanner in March this year. However, during the investigation, the officials found that most of his ornaments were cheap imitation metals and not real gold.

He had claimed to be wearing jewellery items worth around Rs 1 crore, but during the investigation, he revised the estimate downward. The jewellery was finally valued at about Rs 3 lakh.

/IANS