Mumbai: Salesman held for stealing Rs 44 lakh from shop in 4 years

The L T Marg police have arrested a 38-year-old salesman of a general store in Bhuleshwar for allegedly stealing over Rs 44 lakh from his shop in the last four years.

The accused, Ritalal Mahato had allegedly been stealing the cash and the same has been reflected in his bank transactions, said police.

Mahato, a native of Jharkhand, has been working at Sapan Papadwala and General Store in Bhuleshwar since 2017. He used to prepare sweets, however, since he was an old employee, the owner had also trusted him with sales and had been on the shop counter and accepting money from customers.

During Diwali, Mahato took Rs 5,000 from a customer for dry fruits purchase, however, instead of depositing the money into the cash counter, Mahato allegedly kept it with himself and it caught the owner's attention who was monitoring the CCTV camera footage then.

When the owner confronted him about it, Mahato reportedly confessed to it and stopped reporting to work from the very next day. The owner's suspicion grew further and he decided to lodge a police complaint.

During the course of investigation, the police checked his bank transactions and found that large amounts had been deposited in the accounts. A total of Rs 31.25 lakh had been deposited in his four bank accounts between October 2017 and December 2020, said police.

Mahato's monthly salary was ₹17, 000 and he has no other income source, said police. After the bank transactions revealed huge cash deposits, the police decided to arrest him. He was taken into custody from the Kalbadevi area on Friday.