Less than 24 hours after he fled with gold ornaments worth more than Rs. 13.76 lakh from his workplace, the accused landed in the custody of the Navghar police.
While the accused was apprehended from a slum cluster in the Malwani area of Malad on Sunday, the police recovered the entire stolen booty from his possession. According to the police, the accused committed the theft just three days after joining as an artisan at the establishment which is engaged in designing gold and diamond-studded ornaments in Bhayandar.
Notably, the goldsmith had employed the accused artisan without any police verification or background check. It was virtually a blind case for the investigating team which was armed with just a doubtful name. The police team led by Senior Police Inspector- Milind Desai under the supervision of DCP (Zone-I) Amit Kale activated their core informer network and electronic surveillance apparatus. The efforts paid off and the team finally zeroed in on the accused who was holed up in a hutment in the Ambojwadi slums of Malwani area in Malad (west).
The Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police have appealed to people to verify the background of their employees, apart from taking valid identity proofs along with noting down complete details including current residential address and native places. Meanwhile, the accused has been booked under section 381 of the IPC. Further investigations were underway to ascertain his role in other similar offences.