Cheating, robbery by jewellery shop staff on the rise in south Mumbai

According to the police, these gold smiths employ artisans without any police verification or background checks.

Even as serious crimes like murder and dacoity in south Mumbai declined in 2017, police officers of the region have been struggling with complaints of extortion, cheating and robbery by jewellery shop employees.

The police in south Mumbai have been struggling with complaints of cheating and robbery by employees of jewellery shops. (HT File(Representational Image))

Jewellery-making and polishing units flourish in South Mumbai, which constitutes areas like Zaveri Bazaar, JSS Road market and Opera House, among others. According to the police, these gold smiths employ artisans without any police verification or background checks.

Dyaneshwar Chavan, deputy commissioner of police (zone 2) said many times, these artisans either rob the gold bars or diamonds in the custody of the shop or mortgage it elsewhere and then extort money from the clients.

These artisans then flee and it becomes difficult to trace them. “Such cases are either registered under robbery or extortion,” said Chavan. He said such cases have been recorded in areas like LT Marg, Byculla, DB Marg, among others. While robbery in South Mumbai has risen from 68 cases in 2016 to 69 in 2017, extortion cases dropped from 26 cases in 2016 to 20 in 2017, as per Mumbai police statistics. Pravin Padwal, additional commissioner of police (South) said, “We have asked owners to verify the addresses of employees.”