Mumbai: 'Mango sellers' go for gold, steal jewellery worth Rs 80 lakh

Posing as mango sellers, five people rented a shop at Kalachowkie, sold mangoes for a while, and later stole jewellery worth Rs 80 lakh from a neighbouring jewellery store.

H P Solanki jewellers (extreme left) was targeted using the rented shop (circled). Pic/Satyajit Desai

The police are yet to ascertain the date of the incident, as the shop remains closed on Mondays and the robbery was discovered when the owner of H B Solanki jewellers, reopened it on Tuesday morning.

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According to police officials, the investigations into the case revealed that three months ago five individuals had approached the occupant of an ironing shop there, as they wished to rent a shop to sell mangoes.

An officer said, "The ironing shop owner asked them to talk to a neighbouring shop owner, who usually gave his shop on rent. After negotiations, the rent was fixed at R70,000 for three months, but the accused had only paid Rs 55,000 until the robbery."

Police said, on July 1, as their period was about to end, the landlord had asked them to leave the place, following which they plotted and stole jewellery from the neighbouring shop, which is believed to be worth R80 lakh. "A mill, which is exactly behind the shops has been empty for years and the accused took advantage of this.

They made a hole in the wall of the shop they had rented, then the mill wall, and then broke the wall of the neighbouring shop to steal the valuables," added an officer. The accused broke the safe of the shop with the help of a drill cutter and fled with the jewellery.

When contacted, Deputy Commissioner of police Ashok Dudhe (Zone IV) said that they were trying to get details of the accused from the landlord and the investigation was on. The accused have been booked under sections related to house breaking and several teams have been formed to trace them.