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Police claim to have solved Rs 4 crore diamond robbery
The crime branch on Sunday arrested a diamond broker in connection with the diamond robbery, which was discovered on April 15. Stolen diamonds worth Rs 2.65 crore have been recovered from him.
The crime branch on Sunday arrested a diamond broker in connection with the diamond robbery, which was discovered on April 15. Stolen diamonds worth Rs 2.65 crore have been recovered from him.
Joint Commissioner of Police, (crime), Himanshu Roy said Ramesh Jain (36), was nabbed by the Unit II crime branch, while striking a deal for the stolen diamonds at a place in Girgaum on Sunday.
The robbery took place at a diamond-trading firm in DB Marg, when diamond merchant Paresh Shah opened his office on the second floor of Shakila Manzil.
Though the four door locks in the office were intact, someone had taken away 2,925 carats of polished diamonds and some silver coins. The diamonds were worth at least Rs 4 crore.
Roy said the thief left no clues, and the initial investigation into the case drew a blank.
Meanwhile, the Unit II crime branch, which was conducting a parallel probe, was tipped off about the sudden disappearance of Jain, a diamond broker, who often frequented Shah’s firm. The crime branch followed him and caught him red-handed while trying to sell 1,565 carats of the stolen diamonds, worth around Rs 2.65 crore.
During interrogation, Ramesh Jain allegedly disclosed that he was related to one of the managers at the diamond firm. He would often get buyers to the firm.
About two months ago, he visited the firm in the evening. When he found no one at the firm, he sent the watchman of the building out on an errand.
“While the watchman was out, he took the four original door keys to a nearby duplicate key maker and managed to make the duplicates by the time the watchman came back,” Roy added.
He then located the place where the locker key was kept. “He brought buyers to the firm and quietly took the locker key. He made a duplicate at the locksmith and came back after a while with another group of buyers and kept the original back in its place,”
He came back on April 14 and stole the diamonds with the duplicate keys. Police said efforts are on to trace the remaining diamonds.
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