<p>Ornaments worth 140 gold Sovereigns, mainly found on the bodies of those who died unnatural deaths, were found missing from a court in Thiruvananthapuram.</p>.<p>The culprits behind the theft were suspected to be court officials, as it was noticed there were attempts to hide the theft by replacing the ornaments with gold-plated ones.</p>.<p>The theft was detected after a family recently approached the Revenue Divisional Office Court, in Thiruvananthapuram, laid claim to the gold worn by a member who had died an unnatural death.</p>.<p>Initial inquiry by a Deputy Collector revealed that items, worth about 70 gold Sovereigns, that were kept as evidence in several cases between 2010 and 2019 were missing.</p>.<p>A subsequent police investigation found that ornaments, weighing nearly 140 gold Sovereigns, worth around Rs 65 lakh, were missing. Around 25 gold Sovereign-worth fake ornaments were found in the locker. Some silver ornaments and Rs 48,500 in cash were also missing.</p>.<p>Sources said that there was no evidence that the locker was broken into, thus the officials who were in charge of the evidence locker would come under suspicion.</p>.<p>The government also ordered a vigilance probe into the theft, while an in-depth police investigation was in progress.</p>
<p>Ornaments worth 140 gold Sovereigns, mainly found on the bodies of those who died unnatural deaths, were found missing from a court in Thiruvananthapuram.</p>.<p>The culprits behind the theft were suspected to be court officials, as it was noticed there were attempts to hide the theft by replacing the ornaments with gold-plated ones.</p>.<p>The theft was detected after a family recently approached the Revenue Divisional Office Court, in Thiruvananthapuram, laid claim to the gold worn by a member who had died an unnatural death.</p>.<p>Initial inquiry by a Deputy Collector revealed that items, worth about 70 gold Sovereigns, that were kept as evidence in several cases between 2010 and 2019 were missing.</p>.<p>A subsequent police investigation found that ornaments, weighing nearly 140 gold Sovereigns, worth around Rs 65 lakh, were missing. Around 25 gold Sovereign-worth fake ornaments were found in the locker. Some silver ornaments and Rs 48,500 in cash were also missing.</p>.<p>Sources said that there was no evidence that the locker was broken into, thus the officials who were in charge of the evidence locker would come under suspicion.</p>.<p>The government also ordered a vigilance probe into the theft, while an in-depth police investigation was in progress.</p>
