Thane jewellery shop staffer flees with ornaments worth Rs 5 lakh; FIR registered

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The Thane police have registered a case against an employee of a Thane jewellery shop for allegedly running away with ornaments worth about Rs 5 lakh, an official said on Wednesday, reported news agency PTI.

According to the station house officer of Kapurbawdi police station, the Thane jewellery shop owner on Tuesday gave the jewellery to his staffer Kuldipsingh Rawat (41) to get it hallmarked, reported PTI.

However, Rawat soon became unreachable on the phone. He neither went to the hallmarking unit nor returned to the shop, the owner told the police, reported PTI.

A case has been registered against Rawat under IPC section 408 for criminal breach of trust, the official said.

In another case, a court in Maharashtra's Thane district has acquitted 12 persons allegedly involved in the murder of a jewellery shop employee two years ago, observing that the prosecution could not prove the charges against them, reported PTI.

In his order, the Additional Sessions Judge AS Bhagwat gave the benefit of doubt to the dozen accused, who had also been booked under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

A copy of the order dated June 14 was made available on Wednesday.

According to the prosecution, victim Krushna Padaram Tusamand (30) was a sweeper in a jewellery shop in the Bhayander area, reported PTI.

On May 7, 2022, the shop owner and other accused tied Tusamand to a window and brutally thrashed him on suspicion of theft. Tusamand died due to the assault, the prosecution said, reported PTI.

On a complaint by Tusamand's father, the police booked the jewellery shop owner and 11 others for murder, reported PTI.

While advocates Rajan Salunke and Sameer Hatle who represented the accused contested the charges pressed against their clients, 12 prosecution witnesses turned hostile during the trial, reported PTI.

In his order, the judge relied on Tusamand's post-mortem report, which said that the injuries suffered by the victim might have been due to a fall from a moving vehicle, to give relief to the accused, reported PTI.

Pointing to gaps in the prosecution's theory, the court said it could not prove the seizure of the weapons from the accused, while one of the investigation officers was not examined. The prosecution also could not prove that the victim belonged to the SC or ST category, the court said.

(With inputs from PTI)