2 constables among 6 held for looting jewellers of ₹1.5 cr

Raigad police arrested six, including three constables, for looting ₹1.5 crore from jewellers with a fake gold offer; two remain absconding.

Navi Mumbai: The Raigad police on Monday arrested six people, including three police constables, for allegedly looting two jewellers of ₹1.5 crore with an offer of cheap gold. Two more accused, including another police constable, are absconding while the entire amount looted from the jewellers has been recovered, said police.

2 constables among 6 held for looting jewellers of ₹1.5 cr

The arrested accused were identified as Samadhan Pinjari, 20, an employee of a private firm in Alibag and the alleged mastermind of the heist; Shivkumar alias Deepak Gaikwad; Vishal Pinjari, 20; Akshay Khot, 25; and police constables Sameer Mahtre, 34, and Vicky Sable, 25. The absconding accused were identified as Shankar Kule and police constable Suryavanshi.

According to the police, around mid-January, Samadhan Pinjari got in touch with Namdev Hulge, a Nagpur-based jeweller who hailed from the same village as him. Pinjari told Hulge that his acquaintance had around 7 kg of gold which was available for ₹5 crore.

“Lured by the offer, Hulge connected with his relative Omkar Waksha, a jeweller from Kamothe in Navi Mumbai to discuss the possibility of raising the money required to purchase the gold,” said a police officer involved in the probe.

On February 4, Hulge, his employee Nitin Punjari and Waksha visited Alibag in a private car with ₹1.5 crore in cash – Hulge and Pinjari had arranged for ₹65 lakh, whereas Waksha had collected ₹85 lakh.

“The jewellers were made to switch to another vehicle belonging to Deepak Gaikwad, ostensibly to evade police checking, and taken to the spot where the transaction was to take place. But two police constables reached there in no time and started questioning the jewellers,” said the officer.

The constables asked the jewellers to alight from the vehicle, saying they wated to conduct a search, then sped off with the vehicle and the cash. While the duped jewellers were still processing the events, they received a call from Alibag police station the following day which had them worried.

“The call was made by constable Suryavanshi, whose role was to ensure that the jewellers didn’t file a complaint with the police,” said the officer.

The constable accused Hulge and Waksha of stealing ₹2 crore and asked them to report to the police station, failing which he would register an FIR and issue arrest warrants.

On February 7, the jewellers approached Somnath Gharge, superintendent of police, Raigad, and reported about the fraud and the alleged role of the constables. Gharge ordered an immediate inquiry into the matter, following which the Poynad police station registered a case under sections 310(2), 351(2), and 198 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The arrested accused have been remanded in police custody till February 14.