2 staffers held for robbing Inorbit shop

Two employees of Shoppers Stop at Inorbit Mall in Malad (West) were arrested on Saturday for theft of jewellery worth Rs 61 lakh from the Popley and Sons jewellery counter in the showroom last week.

Two employees of Shoppers Stop at Inorbit Mall in Malad (West) were arrested on Saturday for theft of jewellery worth Rs 61 lakh from the Popley and Sons jewellery counter in the showroom last week.

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Anwar Shaikh, 28, who worked as a supervisor of a perfume counter at the showroom for the past three years, pulled off a movie-style robbery by staying back in the showroom after it closed and stealing the jewellery. He was arrested before he could sneak out with the loot.

The police said on October 21, at 8.30 pm the salesman of the jewellery counter, Ejaz Shaikh, 20, removed the displayed jewellery and packed it. He locked the jewellery in the draws beneath the counter and gave the keys to the security, which is the protocol. The next morning, when the salesperson, Pratibha Savarkar, took the duplicate keys from the unlocked the counter to remove the jewellery she noticed found some jewellery missing. She informed the owner of the counter, Rajiv Popley, who discovered that 350 tolas of jewellery was stolen. He lodged a complaint with the Bangur Nagar police.

“The robber had chosen the jewellery carefully and even locked the remaining ornaments and kept the keys where he took them from,” said Ramrao Pawar, additional commissioner of police (north region). “We were sure the culprit was an insider.”

The police found that Ejaz had left the duplicate keys of the counter in a compartment that had a broken lock instead of giving them to the owner. The police arrested Ejaz and are checking whether his negligence was intentional. “The security of the showroom informed us that they had not found anybody sneaking the ornaments out and confirmed that the booty was inside the mall,” Pawar said.

The police checked the closed circuit television camera footage and found that Shaikh had not left the showroom on Thursday. He was also not spotted entering the showroom on Friday although he reported however he was seen on duty at Friday.

The police arrested Shaikh. He confessed to the crime. The police recovered the jewellery and a few cameras and mobile phones.