Elderly duo steals silver jewellery from Nalasopara store

The couple said they wanted to see a few more designs and made Jain take out another bundle of anklets from the counter. As Jain turned to attend to other customers and give the couple time to choose, the woman grabbed one bundle and hid it in her dress covering it with her dupatta

Mumbai: The police have launched a manhunt for an elderly couple for duping a jeweller of ₹20,000 on Saturday. As part of their modus operandi, the couple went to Chandni Jewellers in Nalasopara East at 1pm, when the store was busy.

Elderly duo steals silver jewellery from Nalasopara store

On the pretext of buying jewellery, the couple, in their mid-sixties, asked the owner, Nanalal Jain, 56, to show them options of anklets for their granddaughter. Jain took out a bag of silver anklets and showed them his collection.

The couple said they wanted to see a few more designs and made Jain take out another bundle of anklets from the counter. As Jain turned to attend to other customers and give the couple time to choose, the woman grabbed one bundle and hid it in her dress covering it with her dupatta.

The couple then pretended that they had chosen an anklet and told Jain to keep it aside for them as they did not have money and would withdraw it from the nearest ATM and come back, “The couple gave my father ₹500 as advance to hold the anklet while they withdraw cash and returned,” said Gaurav Jain, son of the owner.

Jain immediately approached the police and registered a case of theft against the couple, “We have registered a case of theft of ₹20,000 and are on the lookout for the couple who are yet to be identified,” said a police officer from Tulinj police station.

The police officials have reviewed the CCTV footage as evidence against the accused and to identify them for their arrest.

The police have alerted their informers and circulated the edited photos from the CCTV grabs to find out the identities and find out whether they have duped other jewellers using the same modus operandi.

“I used to watch videos of such thefts but never suspected that an elderly couple would do such a thing. Installing CCTVs is a must in shops and the salesperson should be instructed to show their collection to the customers in small quantities,” said Gaurav Jain.