Mumbai jewellers threaten shutdown against police harassment

Mumbai's retail jewellers, the backbone of India's jewellery industry with a daily turnover of Rs.6 billion, Monday threatened a day's shutdown this week to protest "police harassment".

Mumbai Police officials harass and extort money from those who report thefts from their shops and seek a police statement to enable them claim insurance money, claimed Rakesh Shetty, chief of Mumbai Jewellery Federation, which has 65 affiliated associations.

"We have already complained to Home Minister R.R. Patil demanding strict action against such police officials. He has asked us to wait till today (Monday). However, if the authorities fail to take any concrete steps, we plan a shut down this week,” Shetty told IANS.

He said that in recent years, as the prices of gold and silver have skyrocketed, incidents of jewellery shop thefts and break-ins have also gone up, creating a scare among the
7,000-odd retail jewellers doing an average daily business of around Rs.6 billion.

“However, there is little or no recovery on police records to prove whether they are doing the job of apprehending the thieves,” Shetty said.

On the contrary, when top police officials demand recovery reports, the local police demand that the victim jewellers give them one or two tolas (10-20 gm) gold which is shown as the "recovery" though the thieves are not caught, Shetty alleged.

Another problem was that policemen allegedly demand money for registering a report, alleged Shetty.

"Later, they also demand a hefty amount for the police report which we have to submit to claim insurance on the goods stolen," said B.K. Jain, a representative of the jewellers.

He cited the recent instance of Devilal Kothari, proprietor of Swarna Plaza Jewellers, Mulund who was abused, slapped and manhandled after he refused to pay up Rs.one lakh for the police report.

“Since we are a soft target, the policemen are taking advantage of the situation and demanding money from the businessmen,” he said adding that the jewellers are left with no option but a shutdown.