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Borivali Police nab house help who stole valuables worth ₹71 lakh from jeweller’s home
The police said that the incident took place on October 1, when the victim identified as Kokila Kothari (54) and her husband Anil (56) had gone to Pune. Kothari told the police that she had been looking for a domestic help since August.
Three men including a 19-year-old domestic help were arrested by the Borivali Police on Thursday for robbing jewellery worth nearly ₹71.19 lakh from the house of a jeweller.
According to the Borivali Police, the main accused identified as Bhageshwar Chowdhary alias Raju Ramchandra Kamath alias Bhagwanlal used to secure jobs as a domestic help and within days tried to gain the trust of his employers and then rob them with the help of his accomplices after days of planning. He used to hide the booty with his accomplices and flee to Bihar to sell the jewellery and other stolen valuables.
The police officers said that the incident took place on October 1, when the victim identified as Kokila Kothari (54) and her husband Anil (56) had gone to Pune. Kothari told the police that she had been looking for a domestic help since August. On September 27, her relatives referred Kamath to her and sent him over to work for the family who own a jewellery shop at Zaveri Bazaar in South Mumbai.
Kothari told the police that within two days, Kamath had gained their trust and had bonded with the family like he had been working there for years.
On October 1, Kothari and her husband left the house for Pune but she said that she had locked the cupboards and drawers before leaving. She further added that after breakfast on October 2, her son also left the house followed by her daughter a few hours later leaving Kamath alone at home.
Kothari in her statement said that in the evening she received a call from her son saying that they had been robbed and Kamath was missing.
The police immediately alerted all the police stations, bus depots and railway stations with the description of Kamath. A day later the police were able to nab Kamath from a bus depot at Dahisar where he was waiting for a bus to flee the state.
On questioning Kamath, he revealed that he had hidden the jewellery with Jogi Kamath (29) and Chandrakumar Kamath (20) who are from his village in Bihar and had helped him with the theft.
“Kamath also disclosed that the tools he needed to break open the safe of the Kothari household was provided to him by the two accomplices,” a police officer from the Borivali police station said.
The police arrested the three men on Thursday and recovered gold worth ₹nine lakh from the accused.