Man stealing jewellery from Chandigarh shop for three months lands in police net

Posing as customers, the man and his wife used to buy ornaments, while nicking some more; were caught in the act on the shop’s CCTV cameras

Police have arrested a 36-year-old man, who along with his wife, had been stealing jewellery from a Sector 22-based jewellery shop by posing as customers for the past three months.

The man and his wife last visited the shop on June 12. They bought two gold rings and stole five more. (Getty Images)

The accused, Manoj Bawra, used to live in Bapu Dham Colony, Sector 26, and recently shifted to VIP Road, Zirakpur. His wife, Nidhi, is on the run.

According to police, the couple had stolen 56 ornaments from the shop since March this year.

After realising the theft, shop’s manager Bitu Verma, a resident of Vikas Nagar, Mauli Jagran, filed a police complaint. He alleged that for the last few months, they had been noticing theft of gold and diamond jewellery. On checking CCTV camera footage, they found Manoj and his wife, who had been visiting their store as customers, stealing the jewellery articles.

The couple last visited them on June 12. They bought two gold rings and stole five more.

Police booked the couple under Section 380 (theft in dwelling house, etc) of the Indian Penal Code at the Sector-17 police station and through investigation found out that the couple had paid ₹60 lakh to a builder to purchase a house in Zirakpur. But the builder fled, leaving them in the lurch. Thereafter, they started committing thefts to make easy money.

A few stolen items have been recovered from Manoj. He was produced before a court on Saturday and sent to four-day police remand.