Mumbai: The Gamdevi police have arrested two individuals for allegedly stealing gold and diamond jewellery worth over Rs. 1.11 crore from a Peddar Road-based businessman’s residence. One of the accused worked as a house help in the victim’s house for the past eight years.
According to the police, the matter came to light when the victim – Nandish Vasa and his family noticed the jewellery items to be dubious. When they got it checked, several of them turned out to be fake. The first suspicion was on their house help, Keshabh Chakradhar Jena, age 42, who worked for the family for 8 plus years but abruptly announced his plans to leave Mumbai to settle back in his hometown – Orissa. Since the family knew Jena for so many years, they did not question his decision, police said.
After registering the FIR, in the course of the investigation, police found that their suspect stole gold and diamond jewellery from the safe in the cupboard, and slyly replaced them with lookalikes, artificial ones.
Police traced Jena in Orissa when they learnt he was in Mumbai and with further search, Jena was arrested from Dadar, at a lodge. “The accused was presented in court which remanded him to police custody. During the interrogation, he confessed to the crime and also revealed his partner who helped him sell the stolen properties,” said a police official.
The second accused, Rajan Babli Naik, 50, a resident of Veer Sawarkar Marg in Prabhadevi, allegedly sold the properties and both he and Jena shared the money among themselves. Naik was arrested from his residence and presented in court as well.
Both are currently in police custody. The police are currently in an attempt to recover the stolen properties – and are halfway there, successfully, they said on Friday.
Jena and Naik are booked under sections 381 (theft by a clerk or servant of property in possession of master), 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
