Mumbai: The Naupada police have arrested a 29-year-old man from Gujarat for allegedly stealing gold ornaments worth Rs1.30 crore from his employer’s shop in Thane on June 7. The accused claimed he was inspired by a movie that demonstrated how to evade police after committing a crime.
According to the Naupada police, the incident occurred at Virasat Jewellers, owned by Yeshwant Punamiya, on May 11. The accused, Vishalsingh Rajput, had been working at the shop for the past two months. One day, Punamiya asked Rajput to bring gold ornaments from another jeweller’s shop, Siddharth Jewellers.
Rajput received the gold but did not deliver them to Punamiya. Instead, he later stole more gold ornaments from the shop while Punamiya was in the washroom and another staffer was busy with a customer. Rajput then fled the area.
When Rajput did not return to the shop, Punamiya rushed to the police station and lodged a complaint. During the investigation, police discovered that Rajput, along with an accomplice, had committed a similar offence previously, resulting in a case filed at the LT Marg police station.
Rajput took Aadhaar cards and other documents from the complainant’s shop to avoid being traced. He also used a mobile number registered under another person’s name.
Senior police inspector Mangesh Bhange stated, “We scanned 100 CCTV cameras in the vicinity and found that Rajput traveled from Thane to Vasai, changing a total of eight auto rickshaws.”
Based on a tip-off, a police team was dispatched to Mount Abu Parvat in Rajasthan. After a four-day search, they arrested Rajput on June 6. He was produced in court and remanded into police custody until June 12. The police recovered 1,745 grams of gold ornaments worth Rs 1.10 crore from Rajput’s possession.
During interrogation, Rajput revealed that he had watched a movie showing how to evade police capture, and he used the idea in this crime. He placed a mobile phone in a truck heading to Mumbai and then travelled to Ahmedabad. From there, he took a bus to Mount Abu Parvat, Rajasthan, and finally returned to Ahmedabad.
