The APMC police have recently arrested two people who had stolen gold worth ₹1.37 crore after drilling a hole in a jewellery shop at Vartak Nagar in Thane on January 17.
The duo, identified as Rahul Abdul Majid Shaikh and Saheb Akbar Shaikh, residents of Jharkhand, along with their accomplices, had rented a shop adjacent to Varimata jewellers.
According to the police, last week, a patrolling van spotted the two loitering suspiciously near the APMC market. When the police team stopped them for questioning, the duo looked scared. On searching their belongings, gold jewellery worth ₹3.67 lakh were found.
They were taken to the police station and since the two could not give a satisfactory reply about the ornaments, the police registered a case under Section 41 (d) (in whose possession anything is found which may reasonably be suspected to be stolen property and who may reasonably be suspected of having committed an offence with reference to such thing) of the Indian Penal Code.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Vashi division) Vinayak Vast said, “On subsequent questioning, the accused revealed that four of them had opened a fruit shop adjacent to Varimata jewellers.”
After doing a recce of the shop for around two months, they had in the early hours of January 17 drilled a hole in the wall of the jewellery shop and made away with gold valued at ₹1.37 crore.
According to the police, the accused had rented the shop for ₹28,000 around two months ago on the pretext of selling fruits. Further investigations are being conducted by the Vartak Nagar police and the hunt for the remaining accused and the stolen booty is on.
