Mumbai: Charkop police arrested two employees of a Kandivali-ba social mediased jewellery store on Thursday for decamping with ornaments worth Rs 1.75 crore in January this year.
The two arrested accused, both brothers, Shorif Shaikh and Aarif Shaikh, were arrested from Bihar, where they were living with alias identities and were cut off from mobile phones and social media to avert arrest. According to police, on January 23, the Shaikh brothers, who had a key to the Kandivali-based Momai Jewellers, went to the store at night.
The arrested duo, both natives of West Bengal, had learnt the security code of the safety locker and stole the 6.24 grams of gold, diamond jewels worth Rs 1.75 crore and set the jewellery shop on fire. When Aarif and Shorif did not show up for work, the jeweller reported the matter to police, which revealed they had committed the crime and set the shop ablaze.
A case was registered against them and several teams were formed to trace the accused men. Police teams were sent to their hometown in West Bengal along with Hyderabad, Gujarat, Karnataka and Palghar, but to no avail.
“Mobile numbers of both accused were deactivated so that police couldn’t trace them. However, last week, we received a tip-off about the duo being present in Bihar, following which a team was dispatched to nab them,” said Sangramsingh Nishandar, deputy commissioner of police (Zone 11).
Charkop police arrested the duo from Bihar and recovered 4.282 grams of gold and diamond. The accused duo was booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for trespassing (section 457), theft by employee (section 380, 381), mischief by fire or explosive substance (section 436) and common intention (section 34).
