Former shop worker held for Rs 6 lakh theft

PUNE: The Khadak police on Friday arrested a former employee of Laxminarayan Chiwda shop at Bhavani Peth for stealing cash, gold and silver, totally worth Rs 6.33 lakh, from the shop.
Ratan Nandlal Patel (22) was picked up from the railway station minutes before he could board a train to Uttar Pradesh.

Patel, who was staying in a bakery nearby, had been working in the shop for the last eight months. The shop owner, Prashant Babulal Data (42), had removed him from the job on January 31 over a petty dispute.

On the intervening night of January 31 and February 1, Patel broke into the shop from the rear gate. He stole the valuables and cash kept in a safe after picking up the keys from a cupboard as he knew where they were kept.

A police team led by sub-inspector Sanjay Gaikwad, under senior inspector Rajendra Mokashi, after examining the site, concluded that the theft was committed by a person familiar to the place.

"After questioning the employees, we found that Patel had not been coming to work since February 1. We collected his name and details and tracked him down to the railway station on Friday," Gaikwad said.

"All the cash and valuables have been recovered from him. Patel had removed a DVR set and three monitors which were installed on the premises of the shop.

The same were found concealed in a drum at the bakery where he stayed," Gaikwad said.