How entry passes helped Mumbai cops nab Chinese duo that stole 5.43-carat diamond

Mumbai Police along with the CISF arrested the duo in the nick of time before they boarded their flight to Hongkong.

In a matter of four hours, the Mumbai police successfully arrested a Chinese duo that made away with a 5.43-carat diamond from an exhibition in Mumbai. If not for the registration passes downloaded from the website, the accused would have slipped from the authorities. Here is how a 'Chinese bid' to make away with a diamond worth Rs 34 lakh was foiled.

Chiang Chang Kwing and Deng Xiabo, two Chinese nationals hailing from the Hunan province had visited Mumbai's India International Jewellery Show in Goregaon on Monday. They visited one of the displays and began chatting up with the salesperson. "On the pretext of taking a closer look at a 5.43-carat diamond worth Rs 34 lakh, the Chinese nationals replaced it with a fake one. The stall owner noticed the fake stone after the duo had left and informed the police immediately," said Rajesh Pradhan, the Additional Commissioner of Police.

The organisers approached the Vanrai police. The compulsory visitor's pass that required registration became a vital tool for the police to trace the culprits down.

Tracking the Chinese thieves

The exhibition required each visitor to register online with identity proof. Each registration would be complete after uploading details of the documents along with photographs. Entry to the exhibition was permitted only if a visitor possessed a downloaded pass post registration. This is where the Chinese thieves were caught in their own web. The duo had used their passport as identity proof for the online registration.

Within no time, the police accessed details of the passport bearers, their names and photographs. The police then cross verified with airlines if passengers by the same name were scheduled to travel. With instance response by the authorities, the Mumbai police found out that the duo was booked on an Air India flight to Hongkong.

Incidentally, the CISF found out that the duo had already cleared immigration formalities. Just before they boarded the flight with their loot, they were arrested by the CISF. With language proving to be a barrier, officials had to depend on translators to find out the whereabouts of the diamond.

The duo had stashed it away in a shampoo bottle. On Tuesday, the Chinese nationals were produced before a court and remanded to custody. The diamond was recovered from their possession.

OneIndia News