7 kg gold seized in Sec’bad, 2 held

Two persons who allegedly stole 7.76 kgs gold ornaments and Rs 21 lakh cash belonging to a Chennai-based jewellery shop from Madurai last month were arrested on Wednesday from Secunderabad, police said.

Champalal Rajpurohith, an employee of Mohanlal Jewellers, and his friend Nagender Singh (both natives of Rajasthan) were nabbed by sleuths of Hyderabad police wing Central Crime Station (CCS) from a lodge in Secunderabad, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detective Department) L K V Ranga Rao told reporters. 

About 7.76 kgs of gold ornaments worth Rs 2.5 crore and Rs 19 lakh cash were recovered from the duo, the DCP said. Champalal, while working with the wholesale jewellery shop, gained the confidence of his employer and the shop proprietors began sending him to deliver huge quantities of gold ornaments to retailers and also to collect cash amounts, Rao said. Wanting to establish his own jewellery shop at Ahmedabad, Champalal thought of stealing the jewellery and cash and shared his plan with two of his friends Singh and one Prakash, the DCP said. On March 25, he collected Rs 21 lakh cash and the gold jewellery from a retailer at Madurai to bring back to his firm in Chennai. However, Champalal handed over the cash and ornaments to his associates, the officer said. 

Later, Champalal lodged a complaint with Chennai police claiming that some persons snatched the bag containing the cash and valuables from him during transit in a bus from Madurai. Later, he moved to Hyderabad along with Nagender to sell the stolen jewellery. In the meanwhile, a source informed Hyderabad Police Commissioner on the suspected movement of some persons in Secunderabad, after which a special team of CCS checked the lodges and nabbed the duo, Rao added. The accused, along with the recovered valuables and cash, were handed over to the Chennai police. 

-PTI