Mumbai crime: Cousins rob jewellery store to open one of their own

One of the minors was employed by the owner of Rooplaxmi Jewellers in Dindoshi and spent his time understanding his schedule and where the store keys were kep

Two minors with dreams of opening their own jewellery shop were recently arrested as they had robbed another such store. The Dindoshi police arrested the two 17-year-old cousins from Rajasthan for stealing gold jewellery amounting to Rs 41 lakh and Rs 2 lakh in cash from the store. The owner of Rooplaxmi Jewellers at Dindoshi, Khaililal Bhimrajji Kothari, 43, had employed one of the minors on January 15. The accused was referred to him by his elder brother, who is a labourer in Nalasopara. The accused was employed as trainee who would not be paid, but Kothari accommodated him in his house. Little did he know that he was sheltering a would be thief.

Planning the robbery
Instead of learning the work, the accused, with his cousin, planned to loot his employer. The second accused worked at Thane in a cloth shop. The main accused, Kothari's employee, spent five days understanding his schedule and where the store keys were kept. Kothari said, "The CCTV in my shop was not functioning. It was to be repaired in 2-3 days. The accused was aware of this."

The recovered jewellery and cash from the two teenaged accused

Changing cabs
Police sources said, "As planned, at around 2pm on January 21, when everyone had left for lunch, the main accused quietly took the store keys and reached the shop where the other accused was waiting for him." Police said they filled their bags with jewellery and cash and fled. They first reached Dadar and then went to Thane in a cab. From there they hired another car. They kept breaking their journey and changing cars every few kilometres till they reached Rajasthan.

API Vijay Jadhav, the investigating officer of the case, said, "We rushed towards the bus stand in Dadar, from where people board buses for Rajasthan, assuming that the two would be there. When we didn't find them, we alerted our informers."

Police sources added that they also scanned the accuseds' Call Data Record (CDR). One of their friends in Udaipur was also questioned, as the duo had made more than 40 calls to him. The main accused's brother in Nalasopara was also questioned. Police said on January 23 they found the two minors at Gayari village in Rajsamand Taluka. They were hiding in Ekling Lodge.

Wanted to open jewellery shop
Police recovered all the stolen gold jewellery and Rs 1.66 lakh in cash. The accused had spent Rs 34,000 on travel, lodging and food. Both were booked under IPC Sections 381 (theft by servant) and 34 (common intention) and sent to a juvenile home. In their statement to police they said that they wanted to open a jewellery shop.

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, current affairs from Mumbai, local news, crime news and breaking headlines here

Download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go