Two arrested in connection with Rs 2 crore gold heist in Mumbai

Police have arrested two persons for allegedly robbing a Mumbai-based jeweller last month of gold worth over Rs 2 crore. The duo hails from Rajasthan, police said. One Manohar Singh Jodha, used to work as courier for a jeweller of Kalbadevi in Central Mumbai, DCP Zone XII, Vinay Kumar Rathod, said.

For about last three years, Jodha had been ferrying gold from Hyderabad for the jeweller. On May 30, he left with a gold consignment of 7.5 kg stuffed in his jacket from Hyderabad in a bus, the official said. Upon arriving in Mumbai, Jodha told the jeweller that somebody had drugged him in the bus and fled with the jacket
containing gold, Rathod said. On June 3, a case in this regard was registered against unknown persons at Samtanagar police station. However, police got suspicious about Jodha's involvement in the crime as he fled Mumbai after the case was registered, the DCP said.

"Upon investigation it was revealed that Jodha, along with one businessman from Rajasthan Narayan Singh Rathod had committed the crime. He had cooked-up a false story of robbery to mislead his employer and police," the official said. Police then launched a manhunt and sent teams to Hyderabad and Rajasthan. Fearing arrest, Jodha and co-accused Rathod kept changing their locations, he said. The duo was, however, nabbed from suburban Borivali on June 23, another official said.

They have been sent to police custody till June 30. Police have recovered 6.3 kg of stolen gold, worth Rs 1.9 crore from their possession, he said. Further investigation into the matter was underway, said the official.