Maharashtra: Three held for looting jewellery worth Rs 3.2 cr from shop in Thane

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The police in Maharashtra's Thane city have arrested three Nepalese men in connection with a theft at jewellery shop during which gold worth Rs 3.2 crore was stolen, police said on Tuesday.

The crime branch officials arrested Madhav Giri, Dinesh alias Sagar Rawal, and Deepak Bhandari, all hailing from Nepal, on August 20, an official said.

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The police managed to recover 550 gm of the stolen gold, valued at Rs 33 lakh from the trio, he said.

A gang of miscreants allegedly broke into a jewellery shop in the main market area of Ulhasnagar town on June 27 and decamped with 6 kg of gold jewellery worth Rs 3.2 crore, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Shivraj Patil said.

During the probe, the police relied on the CCTV footage from the area and technical analysis, which revealed that the accused were from Nepal, he said.

Police teams launched a manhunt in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow, Varanasi and also searched in the districts bordering Nepal and finally apprehended the trio in one of the border areas, the official said.

While three members of the gang have been arrested, seven more are suspected to be involved in the crime, he said.

The accused are history-sheeters and were involved in a similar robbery at a jewellery store in Kamote area of Navi Mumbai in October 2022, the official said.

The gang, which included the security guard of the shop, first surveyed the location and struck when the establishment was closed, he said.

The accused were also wanted for robberies in neighbouring states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka, senior inspector Anand Raorane said, adding that the local property cell officials are carrying out further probe.

Meanwhile, in an another incident, a case was registered after a group of people held up a towing van on traffic police duty in Thane city of Maharashtra after it took action against vehicles parked haphazardly near the Upvan lake, an official release said, reported the PTI.

The incident occurred on August 19 when action was being taken against vehicles parked at the famous spot frequented by people on weekends.

A group of people prevented the towing van from moving and heated arguments ensued with the staff, a Traffic Police release said.

"Even when the towing van staff showed the required permit and license, the people didn't allow the van to proceed and threatened to attack them," it said.

They shot videos of the incident and circulated them on social media to malign the image of traffic police, the release said.

(with PTI inputs)