Some of the gold ornaments recovered from the four arrested in connection with jewellery robbery case.
Credit: DH Photo
Hubballi: The City Crime Branch (CCB) police have arrested four persons in connection with the case of robbery of gold jewellery worth over Rs 3 crore, and recovered 56.26 gm gold ornaments worth Rs 6.65 lakh.
The arrested have been identified as Ankush Kadam of Mumbai, Chandrashekhar alias Rakesh Jadhav of Mumbai, Jigneshkumar Hasmukh of Vadodara in Gujarat, and Vilas Mohite of Mumbai. They were arrested in Gorakhpur of Uttar Pradesh, and search is on for the remaining accused. Along with jewellery, Rs 60,000 in cash and seven mobile phones were also recovered from the arrested.
A gang of five men posing as Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials had allegedly taken 2.94 kg gold ornaments worth Rs 3.02 crore and Rs 2 lakh in cash away from travelling gold merchant Sudheen M S from Kerala, on November 19.
The group had stopped him near the old bus stand in Hubballi, flashed fake identity cards and asked him to come for "questioning". They had forced him and his worker Vivek into their vehicle, dropped them on way to Belagavi, and escaped with gold and cash, according to the complainant.
The suburban police had registered a case, which was handed over to the CCB, and four teams were formed. Four accused were arrested based on technical evidence, the police said.
“After the offence, the accused were on a tour of North India, and they were arrested in Gorakhpur. The gang members had come into contact in a jail in Andhra Pradesh. More than 10 people might have been involved in the offence. Other accused, including main conspirators who are absconding, will also be arrested,” said Police Commissioner N Shashi Kumar.