The manager of a jewellery store in Andheri East along with his friend have been arrested for falsely reporting the theft of 9 kg gold from the shop on May 4. The MIDC police, on November 23, arrested the two men for planning and executing a false representation of theft. The two accused, Kamlesh Lohar and Dinesh Purbiya, were friends and hail from the same village in Rajasthan.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Navinchandra Reddy said, “Lohar was the manager of the shop which belonged to Devi Lal Lohar, his uncle. On May 4, at 11 p.m., Purbiya reached the MIDC police station complaining of a robbery by two men who entered the shop on the pretext of buying jewellery. He said the men had sprayed chemicals on his face which made him unconscious and then looted the shop of 9 kg and 903 gm gold, along with all the cash and the Digital Video Recorder that stores the CCTV footage.”
An FIR was registered under relevant sections and investigations were looked at from all angles. However, the technical evidence provided no clue to the police.
Two days after the said incident, the police following suspicion on Mr. Lohar, started interrogating him. In the forensic report, it was found that no traces of any spray were found on him or in the shop. Also no fingerprints of any outsiders were gathered.
‘Abnormal rise in sales’
Mr. Reddy said, “Our doubts on him mounted and we kept a track of his movements and discovered an abnormal increase in the sales of his father, Sohan Lal’s shop in Borivali. Mr. Lohar, his father and his brother were arrested and after thorough interrogation, it was revealed that Mr. Lohar along with Mr. Purbiya took all the jewellery to their home town, smelted and converted it into different kinds of ornaments and tried to sell it at his father’s shop.”
In furtherance of their plan, Mr. Lohar and his friend had destroyed the CCTV, the DVR and the SIM and mobile phone used by them. Mr. Reddy informed that they had recovered 7 kg and 14 gm gold and investigation for the rest was still in progress. “Both the accused have been arrested and have no criminal background. They were motivated by requirement of money and thought that a representation of false robbery would bail them out of any charges,” Mr. Reddy said.