Posing as Delhi cops, four abduct Hyderabad jeweller, flee with cash, valuables worth ₹2.62 cr

Hyderabad-based jeweller and an employee were allegedly abducted by four people posing as Delhi police officers in Mumbai. The duo was assaulted and robbed of cash, gold biscuits, and diamond and gold jewelry worth around ?2.62 crore. The police have launched a manhunt for the accused, suspecting insider involvement.

MUMBAI: Four people, posing as Delhi police crime branch sleuths, allegedly abducted a Hyderabad-based jeweller and one of his employees from Sion on Wednesday morning.

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The four took the duo to Bhiwandi, assaulted them, and fled with cash, gold biscuits, and diamond and gold jewellery worth around ₹2.62 crore, police officers said.

According to the Sion police, Santosh Naredi, who runs Naredi Jewellers in Hyderabad, was on his way to Bharat Diamond Bourse in Bandra Kurla Complex to deliver the valuables when the incident occurred.

“Naredi was accompanied by Hariram Ghatiya, a jewellery maker. The duo travelled in a luxury bus from Hyderabad and got off at a bus stop on Dr B A Road near Highway Apartment. Soon after they alighted from the bus, a four-wheeler stopped near them and the four occupants of the vehicle, who posed as Delhi police crime branch officers, flashed their identity cards. They asked the jeweller and his employee to sit inside their vehicle,” a police officer said.

“The accused then told the diamond trader and his employee that they were carrying illegal jewellery and they were being taken to Delhi. However, on reaching Bhiwandi, they stopped the vehicle on Mumbai-Nashik Highway at an isolated spot and started beating the duo,” the officer added.

The duo then reported the incident to the police on Wednesday night.

“We have registered a case and launched a manhunt for the accused. We are also getting details of the vehicle used in the crime. Police teams have been sent to several places to identify and trace the accused,” the police said, adding that it appears to be the handiwork of some insider, who knew that the duo was carrying cash and jewellery and accordingly targeted them.

Prashant Kadam, DCP Zone IV, said that several police teams are working on cracking the case. He added that the preliminary probe has revealed that the gang was following the bus, in which the jeweller and his employee were travelling, from Pune.

A case has been registered against four unknown people for robbery, kidnapping or abduction with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine people, wrongful restraint, personating a public servant, wearing garb or carrying a token used by public servant with fraudulent intent and common intention.