Delhi Police apprehended a man from Rishikesh for allegedly stealing gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs 1.5 crore from a shop in Lajpat Nagar, southeast Delhi, officials said.
The suspect, identified as 31-year-old Soib, also allegedly stole Rs 26,000 in cash from a store selling newborn baby items. Authorities noted that he had a criminal history, previously involved in eight other cases.
Additionally, police arrested two individuals, Sumit Soni (30) and Manik Kadam (42), for allegedly receiving the stolen goods.
Following their arrest, authorities recovered 100 grams of stolen diamonds, a 10-gram gold chain purchased with stolen money, and 57 grams of fine-quality gold extracted by melting the stolen jewellery, a senior officer stated.
According to the police, Soib initially attempted to rob a jewellery showroom on the night of January 14-15 but failed. Instead, he stole Rs 26,000 from a nearby store.
On January 29, he allegedly returned to the jewellery shop and broke in by shattering a glass panel in the washroom. Upon investigating the scene, police discovered that jewellery worth approximately Rs 1.5 crore was missing.
CCTV footage from over 500 cameras was analysed, revealing that the suspect had arrived in Lajpat Nagar on a bike taxi via Ring Road. The bike aggregator confirmed that Soib was dropped off near the Lajpat Nagar Metro Station.
Police tracked him down in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, and arrested him, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Ravi Kumar Singh confirmed.
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During interrogation, Soib allegedly disclosed that he had sold the stolen jewellery to Soni for Rs 6.60 lakh immediately after the theft. Acting on this information, police conducted raids in Madangir and arrested Soni, recovering some of the stolen jewellery from him.
Soni reportedly admitted to extracting diamonds from the stolen items and selling gold worth Rs 8 lakh to Kadam. Based on Soni’s confession, police arrested Kadam in south Delhi and recovered 57 grams of high-quality gold that had been melted from the stolen jewellery.
(With inputs from PTI)
