A workshop employee stole diamonds worth Rs 1.47 crore from a businessman, allegedly motivated by anger over mistreatment of workers by the businessman's son. After a month-long investigation, police arrested the accused and recovered nearly all the stolen diamonds.
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Goregaon police have arrested a workshop employee accused of stealing diamonds worth Rs 1.47 crore from a diamond businessman. The theft was allegedly motivated by the worker's anger over the businessman’s son abusing workers and cutting their wages.
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The accused stole the diamonds from the workshop to "teach a lesson" to the businessman and his son. He then made a video showing himself throwing a packet into a drain while hurling abuse at them, sending the clip as a taunt.
Initially, it was believed that the packet thrown into the drain contained the stolen diamonds. However, the accused had used a decoy packet while keeping the real diamonds with himself. He then fled the scene.
After the businessman filed a complaint, the police launched an investigation. Following nearly a month of efforts, the accused was arrested, and diamonds worth approximately Rs 1.40 crore were recovered from his possession.
According to police sources, the arrested accused has been identified as Sachin Jaswant Makwana (40), a resident of 90 Foot Road, Kampla Park, Bhayandar West. Makwana, originally from Idar in Sabarkantha district, Gujarat, had been working at a jewellery workshop in Jawahar Nagar, Goregaon West, for six months. On December 10, he allegedly fled the workshop, which specializes in the quality checking of diamonds, after stealing diamonds worth approximately Rs 1.47 crore.
The workshop owner filed a complaint at Goregaon Police Station, prompting an investigation. Under the guidance of DCP Anand Bhoite and ACP Hemant Sawant, special teams of two detection officers, PSI Ram Vaishnav and PSI Vijendra Kale from Goregaon Police Station, were formed, and they, along with their staff, began the investigation.
After nearly 20 days of investigation, the accused was traced to his village, where he was arrested. He was brought to Mumbai yesterday for further proceedings, and the cops have recovered diamonds valued at Rs 1.40 crore.
“Makwana had switched off his mobile phone, leaving no immediate clues about his whereabouts. We reviewed CCTV footage from the crime scene and surrounding areas. He was spotted on camera in Bhayandar and Fountain Ghodbunder before leaving in a transport vehicle, after which no further leads were found.
We obtained his call records and began tracking him through those. From the CDR (Call Detail Records), we retrieved his parents’ phone numbers. However, no activity was recorded on their phones after his disappearance. While monitoring updates from the CDR, we identified a suspicious number that had contacted the accused’s mother.
We began tracing this number, but the location kept shifting between Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Two police teams were assigned to the case—one stationed near the accused’s village and the other actively tracing his movements. Eventually, when his location was pinpointed near his village, the police laid a trap and successfully took him into custody,” said an officer from Goregaon police station.
The suspicious number was traced to a friend of the accused. The friend was unaware of the theft, as the accused had taken him along under the pretext of going on a trip. During this time, they visited several temples and religious sites. Makwana had used his friend’s number to call his mother. He disconnected the call after hearing her say. Makwana, who had a deep bond with his mother, was married but had a strained relationship with his wife, who was living separately. During interrogation, Makwana revealed that he had no intention of stealing for personal gain. Instead, he committed the theft to teach the owner's son a lesson. He explained that the owner's son frequently mistreated the workers, verbally abused them, and arbitrarily cut their wages. The workshop owner reportedly supported his son's behavior, which fueled Makwana’s resentment. Driven by a sense of revenge, Makwana stole the diamonds to make a statement and teach them both a lesson,” the officer added.
“We have arrested the accused and recovered 96% of the stolen property from him. He was produced before the court yesterday and the court remanded him to police custody,” said ACP Hemant Sawant from Goregaon division.
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