Jewellery & cash worth ₹3.32 crore stolen from Raviwar Peth casting shop

The audacious theft – believed to have taken place between 8 pm on December 31, 2023 and 10 am on January 1, 2024 at Raj Casting Shop

In a daring heist, an unidentified perpetrator has been booked for allegedly stealing jewellery and cash amounting to ₹3.32 crore from a casting shop located in Raviwar Peth, the police said.

The entire theft was captured in the CCTV cameras placed in the shop. (HT PHOTO)

The audacious theft – believed to have taken place between 8 pm on December 31, 2023 and 10 am on January 1, 2024 at Raj Casting Shop, Raviwar Peth – has left the authorities puzzled.

Deepak Mane, 39, from Rasta Peth runs a casting shop at Raviwar Peth. According to a police complaint filed by Mane, an unidentified individual entered his shop and stole ₹1,093,260 in cash and golden ornaments worth ₹33,209,228 from a cupboard in the shop late at night. The exact details of the items stolen and the extent of losses incurred by the casting shop are still being ascertained.

The entire theft was captured in the CCTV cameras placed in the shop. In the CCTV footage, a masked man can be clearly seen entering the shop and fleeing with the cash and golden ornaments. A team from the Faraskhana police station visited the scene of the crime and collected all the CCTV footage for further investigations. During the panchnama, the police did not find any evidence of forced entry into the shop.

Vaibhav Gaikwad, assistant police inspector at the Faraskhana police station, said that Raj Casting Shop is a wholesaler of golden ornaments and that other jewellers purchase golden ornaments from Raj Casting Shop to sell to customers. “As per the complainant, it is suspected that anyone from among the shop workers might be involved in the robbery and we are working to nab the accused,” Gaikwad said.

The police suspect that any of the current or former employees of the shop might have helped the accused to make duplicate keys of the shop and cupboard due to which he could easily enter the shop without breaking any lock. The police officials are actively pursuing leads and recording statements of the shop staff to ascertain if any insider was involved in the meticulously executed theft. The absence of any evidence of forced entry has heightened suspicions, prompting a thorough examination of the shop’s security measures and internal protocols. A case has been registered at the Faraskhana Police station under sections 381 (theft by clerk or servant of property in possession of master) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and further investigation is underway.