Varanasi: 4 held for theft of jewellery worth 3 crore

Hiding the stolen valuables is equal crime with the one who has stolen it.

Varanasi, Apr 14: Four persons, including three of a family, have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the loot of jewellery worth crores of rupees from a shop in the busy Thatheri Bazar Varanasi last week, said the police. Uttar Pradesh STF and a Crime Branch team on Friday arrested Shivam Sharma, his father Sudhir Nath Sharma and mother Vinita, and Zeeshan, all residents of Varanasi, SSP Nitin Tiwari said.

While Shivam was among the seven robbers who carried out loot in the jewellery shop on April 8, his father and mother were arrested for allegedly hiding the looted jewellery in their house, he said.

So far nearly 300 grams of jewellery was recovered from Shivam's house. A country-made gun, two live cartridges and two mobile phones were also seized, Tiwari said.

Two brothers, Prahalad and Sanjay Agarwal, had lodged a police complaint that nearly 12 kg of gold jewellery worth Rs three crore was looted from their shop, the officer said. The incident took place when two persons, posing as customers visited the shop.

Thereafter, five more persons armed with guns and knives entered the shop, held the workers hostage, snatched their mobile phones, broke the CCTV cameras and looted the jewellery, the police said.

During interrogation, the accused revealed the name of Aman Kumar Soni, Faizan, Pappu, Azad, Manoj and two others, who helped in executing the robbery.
Shivam and Faizan were the masterminds of the loot, Tiwari claimed. A manhunt has been launched to nab the other accused, he said.

PTI