Thieves who looted Mangalore jewellery stores arrested in Kochi
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)
Mangalore, Jul 13: Four persons including three women from West Bengal, were arrested from Kochi on Monday last.
During interrogation, the gang members, Mumtaz Begum (30), Yaseen Sheikh (54), Nebiya Biwi (45), and Ameena Sheikh (55) all from Arganagungri in West Bengal, have reportedly confessed that they were involved with thefts in Mangalore-based showrooms, Gold Palace, and Tanishq.
The gang had visited Malabar Gold showroom on M G Road, Kochi, on Monday in the guise of customers interested in buying ornaments. The staff of the showroom, who identified them to be the thieves involved with a previous theft in the same showroom based on CCTV footage, held them when they tried to take away gold ornaments unnoticed again. These thieves had stolen a golden anklet from this shop on March 12, 2011. They were then handed over to Kochi Central police station.
The gang, immediately on arrival, had asked the salesman to show them the most costly ornaments. The salesman grew suspicious about them after watching their behaviour.
The police believe that the gang was involved with theft of gold ornaments worth over Rs 1.5 crore so far. The gang members confessed to their involvement in theft at Malabar Gold showroom in Kozhikode, Alappad Jewellery in Ernakulam, Gold Palace and Tanishq in Mangalore, and Reliance Jewellery in Bangalore, the police said.
They usually acted like ultra rich customers interested in heavy jewellery. They normally asked the salesman to show them lot of jewellery, and when the salesman’s concentration is diverted, packed some ornaments in towels before leaving the shop. They had reportedly stolen a bracelet worth about a lac of rupees from Gold Palace Mangalore and two diamond-studded bangles worth seven lac rupees from Tanishq Mangalore.
The crime branch police in the city are in touch with their Kerala counterparts in a bid to achieve progreress in their investigation relating the above two thefts.
Some fake gold ornaments and Rs 1.5 lac in cash were recovered from the possession of the arrested thieves.