Mumbai: Less than two months after a jeweller lost gold worth more than ₹2.14 lakh to the dishonest actions of a newly hired staffer, another artisan fled with 550 grams of raw gold, valued at over ₹34 lakh.
The incident occurred at a jewellery designing-cum-manufacturing unit in Bhayandar.
Artisan flees with gold worth ₹34 lakh
According to the complainant, Rattan Chandra Samanta, he came into contact with the accused, Banshi Metia, in October 2022. Both residing in Bhayandar, they exchanged mobile numbers and commuted together to their workplaces at Zaveri Bazaar, a key hub for gold jewellery trading and manufacturing in Mumbai.
Samanta handed over an order for crafting gold ornaments, including a necklace, pendant, and ring, to Metia. As he was busy, he entrusted the accused with the task and provided raw gold worth ₹34.65 lakh in the first week of December 2023. The commitment was to deliver the finished ornaments by December 12.
However, Metia disappeared with the gold and became unresponsive. Samanta visited Metia’s apartment and workplace, only to discover that he had left both locations a few days earlier. Further attempts to trace him in his native place in Parbatipur village, East Midnapore, West Bengal, were unsuccessful, following which Samanta filed a complaint at the Navghar police station in Bhayandar on Saturday.
Thorough background checks is mandatory before trusting individuals with high value assets
Nabbing such artisans is challenging as they often change mobile numbers and rarely return to their native places after absconding with gold. Instead, they venture to other cities, taking up new jobs. This highlights the importance of conducting thorough background checks before entrusting individuals with highly valuable assets.
Meanwhile, an offense under section 406 of the IPC (Indian Penal Code) for criminal breach of trust has been registered against the accused. Further investigations are underway.
