Man flees with ₹70 lakh from Mumbai, arrested in Greater Noida

The GB Nagar police on Wednesday evening arrested from Greater Noida a man who had allegedly fled with ₹70 lakh belonging to a businessman in Mumbai.

The GB Nagar police on Wednesday evening arrested from Greater Noida a man who had allegedly fled with ₹70 lakh belonging to a businessman in Mumbai.

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Police identified the suspect as Gulnawaz, 30, alias Arif and said he and his brother were involved in the alleged theft. Gulnawaz had then booked a taxi with two drivers, from Mumbai to his home town in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. But when the Bisrakh police stopped the car for checking in Greater Noida West, they found the stolen cash and arrested him, a senior officer said.

Harish Chander, deputy commissioner of police, Noida Central, said Gulnawaz had taken a flight from Delhi to Mumbai on October 11, on his brother Shahnawaz’s directions. For a few days, he stayed with 34-year-old Shahnawaz, who works with an exports company in Mumbai.

Shahnawaz allegedly stole a cash bag from his employer Hasan, and handed it over to Gulnawaz, who fled with it from Mumbai on Monday, police said.

Chander said Bisrakh police was conducting a routine checking near Char Murti roundabout on Wednesday 4pm when they spotted a Tata Zest car, with a Maharashtra registration number. “The police stopped the car for checking and found a bag full of cash inside,” he said.

The police brought all three occupants of the car -- Gulnawaz and drivers Giriraj Sharma, a resident of Hathras, and Ravi Nair, a resident of Mumbai – to Bisrakh police station for further interrogation.

The police also procured a currency counting machine from a nearby bank and ascertained that the bag contained ₹69,18,900 in denominations of ₹2,000, 500, 200 and 100.

Bisrakh police registered a case against the suspects Gulnawaz and Shahnawaz under Section 414 (assisting in concealment of stolen property) of the Indian Penal Code and also under Section 41 (notice of appearance before police officer) and Section 102 (power of police officer to seize certain property) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Complainant Munish Chauhan, SHO, Bisrakh police station, in the FIR stated that during interrogation, Gulnawaz revealed that his brother had given him the cash bag. “Shahnawaz works in an exports company and he is close to the firm owner, Hasan. Hasan had recently changed the lock of his house and had allegedly given a key to Shahnawaz. Shahnawaz later came to know that Hasan kept huge amounts of cash in his flat. When Hasan went out of city on business, Shahnawaz allegedly stole the cash and called his brother Gulnawaz to Mumbai to collect it,” he said.

Chander said the two drivers were not involved in the crime. “We have seized the money and the car used in the crime. Shahnawaz has gone incommunicado and his mobile number is not reachable. We are also trying to contact Hasan to know why he kept huge amounts of cash in his flat. We will contact the Mumbai police to investigate the matter further,” Chander said. Gulnawaz was produced in court and later sent to jail.