Gold polishing worker steals ornaments worth Rs 28 lakh from Kandivali workshop

MUMBAI: Police have arrested a 21-year-old man for stealing gold ornaments worth Rs 28 lakh from a Kandivali West- based gold polishing workshop where he worked. The accused was arrested from Hyderabad on charges of theft within 48 hours of the crime.
Safutullah Gayani, the accused, was working at a gold polishing unit owned by Rampad Santra at Sai Nagar for the past eight months. There were four other workers at the unit. Every evening, the unit's manager, Shaikh Momin, would collect ornaments polished by the staff and lock it in a vault inside the workshop. The key to the vault used to be with Momin. All the employees would sleep inside the workshop at night.
On June 11, Rampad received a consignment of bangles and pendants weighing 1kg for polishing. The order was to be completed soon. The workers worked till late and went to sleep around 6am on June 12. At 10.30am, the shop owner received a phone call from a nervous Momin. He told Santra that 1kg gold ornaments had vanished from the vault. CCTVs in the unit showed Gayani applying glue on every camera. One of the cameras outside the shop had captured him walking away with a carry bag. After Santra lodged a police complaint, the police checked Gayani's call data record (CDR).
"Gayani wasn't carrying his cellphone. We contacted the people and learnt that he was on his way to Pune and then to Hyderabad. Our team picked him up from Hyderabad," said senior inspector Nitin Pondkule.
Gayani admitted to taking out keys to the vault from Momin's trouser pocket, while he was asleep. He claimed that his employer hadn't paid him his salary, but Rampad has denied this. "The entire looted gold ornaments have been recovered from Gayani," said DCP Sangramsinh Nishandar.
"The accused has worked in a few other polishing units before. Employers should conduct police verification of each of their staffers," he added.