Mumbai man loses gold worth ₹5.5 lakh at Bandra fair, cops help recover it

Afraid that the gold would get stolen if left at home, the complainant carried the valuables with him to the Mount Mary Fair in Bandra.

A 41-year-old man from Santacruz lost 170 grams of gold worth ₹5.5 lakh in an autorickshaw, but was able to recover the same after police tracked down the driver of the vehicle.

The man was arrested and police recovered the gold. (HT Photo)

Afraid that the gold jewellery would get stolen if left at home, the complainant Collin Dias, an executive working in the service sector, carried the valuables with him on a visit to the Mount Mary fair on Sunday with his family.

According to police, Dias left his residence in Santacruz carrying multiple bags, one of which had the gold in it.

“He took an auto with his wife and children and kept the bag of gold near the feet of the driver as there was no space in the passenger area of the vehicle. When the family reached Bandra (West) and alighted, the auto sped off before Dias could remove the bag of gold,” said a police officer.

The complainant immediately informed the Bandra police and gave them the location from where he had hired the autorickshaw.

“CCTV footage of all the points between Santacruz and Bandra were checked, and his wife was partially visible in the rickshaw in one of the videos,” the officer said.

Police took down the registration number of the auto and got the details from the regional transport office (RTO).

“The address with the RTO was initially found to be wrong. We then checked with a few other drivers in the area and traced the driver who had taken the gold,” he said.

Manoj Kumar Tiwari, 31, the accused, initially denied being in possession of the gold but after four hours of interrogation, he confessed to dividing the stolen jewellery and distributing it between his friends for safekeeping.

“The gold has been recovered. The accused is being interrogated to gather further information regarding the crime,” the police officer said, adding that Tiwari’s friends were unaware that the gold was stolen.