Servant steals Rs 25 lakh and flees, employer offers Rs 1 lakh reward to nab him

The pamphlet the complainant has made to trace his thieving servant

A South Mumbai businessman has announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh to anyone who helps him catch his servant of 15 years, who is on the run with Rs 25 lakh of his boss' money. The complainant, Ashok Patel, 65, runs businesses in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Patel said his servant, Prakash Chaudhary, 39, used to work as a labourer on construction sites, and he (Patel) first met him during the construction of his house in Gujarat. Patel later brought him to Mumbai with him and employed him as his delivery boy. Chaudhary was also assigned the task of collecting money from customers. On February 19, Chaudhary was sent to Hyderabad for money collection, with the total amount coming to Rs 25 lakh.

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"He called me from there and said he had left for Mumbai. After that, he called my son and said he had reached CSMT and would go home for a bath and then drop by at the shop with the collected money," said Patel. "My son has been handling the business for the last many days as I have been busy in election campaigning in Gujarat (Patel contested in the sarpanch election from Kutch and won). Chaudhary has taken advantage of this."

Patel added that he had made Chaudhary a part of his family and given him lodging in his own home for 10 years. After that, Chaudhary had shifted to Malad and gotten married. Patel said he used to pay him a monthly salary of Rs 25,000 and help him out whenever he needed.

A police officer said, "On February 19, when he did not reach on time, they called him on his mobile phone, but it was switched off. They waited for him for an entire day, but neither did he show up nor contact them. They also checked his home, but he was not there. They then approached the MRA Marg police and lodged a complaint." The police have filed an FIR against Chaudhary under section 408 (criminal breach of trust by clerk or servant) of the IPC.

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