Mumbai: Cops earn praise for foiling Rs. 34 lakh diamond heist

A Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council official felicitates the two CISF officers, as president of Bharat Diamond Bourse, A Mehta, looks on. Pic/Nimesh Dave

Move over scriptwriters, fact is more riveting than fiction. In 2010, a diamond heist of Rs. 6.6 crore from the India International Jewellery Show here was a thriller offscreen.

Seven years ago, three Mexicans stole diamonds worth Rs 6.6 crore from a jewellery show in Goregaon East. They flew out of the country, their heist intact, but they were caught at Dubai airport.

"We are several steps ahead today," said Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) senior commandant Himanshu Pandey with a smile. "This time we managed to nab the diamond thieves at Mumbai airport before they could escape to Hong Kong," he said, on the sidelines of a felicitation function yesterday at the Bharat Diamond Bourse in Bandra-Kurla Complex.

Pandey and assistant commandant (CISF) A K Nag were felicitated by the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council. The team nabbed two Chinese nationals on August 2 from CSIA for stealing a diamond worth Rs. 34 lakh.

Jahan teri yeh nazar hai
The two thieves attended a jewellery show in Goregaon and distracted attendants at a stall belonging to P Kirtilal & Co on the last day (July 31). Nimble fingers took the real diamond, replaced it with a fake one and vamoosed from the venue. Next destination? Hong Kong and then Osaka. But the Mumbai police and CISF caught them at the airport, boarding pass in hand and the real diamond in a small shampoo bottle!

"We did not allow them to leave the country," said Pandey to applause. "It was terrific coordination between all, including a continuous flow of input, which helped us to get them within four hours. "Security for India's strength, gems and jewellery, is an onerous task. The CISF is almost everywhere, from sea ports to airports, monuments to government buildings."

Pandey went on to the nature of contemporary security methods, which are in a flux, given the evolving threats. He said, "India faces internal and external challenges, it is not an easy place to provide security. We have to constantly try to improve technology."

Making a case for top of the line surveillance, he said, "It was the great quality of the CCTV coverage that was important. A strong network of cameras is the call of the day."

We need to be too intrusive
The fluid nature of crimes means, Pandey said, "constant adaptation. At times, we, by which I mean security agencies, are accused of being too intrusive, but then that is the changing nature of terror too, where there are 'insiders' used for the job. For instance, we may never see an attack like 26/11 in Mumbai. I'm not saying a city can't be attacked, but the 'nature' of the attack will be different," he finished. Both men in khaki refused to divulge specific details about the stolen diamond case and the Chinese, and attempts to make something out of this, in these days of India-China tension came to naught. "We are not authorised to talk to the media," said Pandey and Nag, smiling as they walked out, flowers in hand.

Ojhas Kirtilal of, P Kirtilal & Co. from where the diamond was stolen only expressed "eternal gratitude" to all, especially CISF, for the quick capture. Case closed.

Now, if only the bigger India-China standoff could reach such a quick close, that would be like the icing on the cake, or in this case, the diamond in the crown.

Rs 34 lakh
Worth of the stolen diamond