Jhansi : A joint team of police, Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team and the surveillance unit arrested a 29-year-old man from Maharashtra in connection with the theft of gold jewellery worth Rs 5 crore from an Amritsar-based jeweller here in Mauranipur area while the jeweller was travelling in a SRTC bus on Oct 28.
Police have also recovered Rs 1.4 lakh in cash and two mobile phones from the accused, while Rs 17.06 lakh transferred to different bank accounts was frozen. The accused, identified as Amol Maruti Pitekar of Mahalangi village under Karjat police station in Ahilyanagar district of Maharashtra, was arrested from the tehsil premises in Karjat on Nov 3 with the assistance of Maharashtra police. He was travelling from Chhatarpur to Jhansi by bus on Oct 28. When the bus stopped at Mauranipur bus stand around 5:40 pm, unidentified persons took advantage of the rush and stole two bags containing 6.937 kg of jewellery and Rs 15 lakh in cash. After reaching Maharashtra, he was called to Rasin town and handed Rs 20 lakh from the stolen money. Police froze Rs 17.06 lakh in three bank accounts, including Rs 14.36 lakh in Dhere’s account, Rs 55,000 in Moin’s account and Rs 2.15 lakh in Amol’s account. The remaining Rs 1.4 lakh was recovered from the accused.
The complainant, Gurukirat Singh, a jeweller, procures gold ornaments from Amritsar and supplies them to shopkeepers against orders in UP, Rajasthan and MP, according to police. SSP Jhansi Vikas Kumar said eight teams were formed to crack the case. Police said Amol remained in constant touch with his father and associates over mobile phones and used Google Maps to guide them.
On the basis of CCTV footage of three persons leaving with the bags from the bus and absconding in an SUV, the police arrested the accused from his hometown. The accused was brought here on transit remand on Friday and presented before a magistrate.
Police said further investigation was underway to trace other accused. A case was registered under the sections of the BNS.