Stolen gold and cash worth `2.69cr recovered; two held

Hyderabad: City police on Wednesday arrested two persons in connection with the theft of gold and cash worth Rs 2.69 crore from Mohanlal Jewellers in Chennai.A The arrested include Champalal Rajpurohith, an employee of Mohanlal Jewellers and his friend Nagendar Singh Rajpurohith, both native of Ladunagar hamlet in Barmer district of Rajasthan. They were arrested from a lodge in Secunderabad while they were trying to find a suitable buyer for the jewellery. The stolen property has been recovered intact, informed police.

Police said Champalal joined the wholesale jewellery shop in Chennai three years ago and won the confidence of his employers with his sincere work. Trusting him, the employers began sending him to deliver huge quantity of gold ornaments to retailers and also collect cash from customers.

After working for several months sincerely, Champalal became greedy and wanted to establish his own jewellery store in Ahmedabad by stealing his employer's gold ornaments. Accordingly, he discussed the plan with his friends Nagendar and Pukraj Rajpurohith at his native place during his vacation in February.

According to the plan, Champalal's two friends reached Chennai and the trio was waiting for the right time. On March 25, Champalal collected Rs 21 lakh and gold jewellery weighing 7.76 kilos from retailers in Madurai and was supposed to deliver it back to his employers. On Champalal's instructions, his friends were already waiting for him at Madurai Bus Stand. They collected the booty from Champalal and left for Chennai separately, said police.

Champalal too boarded a private bus to Chennai and during the transit he created a scene that his baggage was cut and the jewellery and cash was stolen by unidentified persons. He reached Chennai on March 26 and lodged a complaint with CMBT police station based on which a case was registered, informed police.

The employers did not suspect Champalal since they trusted him completely, while the latter misled Chennai police very cleverly. Later, he reached Hyderabad along with his friend Nagendar to sell the jewellery and checked into a lodge in Secunderabad.

Meanwhile, a source tipped off Hyderabad police about Champalal's suspicious movements. Based on the information, the accused had been arrested and the stolen property was recovered intact. They were handed over to Chennai police for further action, police added.