Mumbai: Jeweler's Employee And Accomplice Arrested For Stealing ₹1.4 Crore From Jewelry Store In Kalbadevi

Mumbai: A jeweler's employee, with the help of a friend, has stolen jewelry worth ₹1.4 crore. A case has been registered against Gunwant and Jitendra singh Rao under sections 34, 408 and 420 of IPC at the LT Marg Police Station. The police have initiated an investigation and efforts are underway to arrest the accused involved in the crime.

According to the information provided by the police, Arvind Choradia (40), the owner of M/s Saaj Jewelers located in the Kalbadevi area, has been manufacturing and wholesaling gold jewelry for the past 14 years. Earlier, Saaj Jewelers shop was located in Mazgaon, but it was shifted to Kalbadevi four years ago.

The complainant, Choradia, sends gold jewelry to gold traders in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. To assist with his business, he employs 15 goldsmiths and 7 staff members. Gold traders in Kalbadevi frequently contact Choradia over the phone, requesting him to send gold jewelry and new designs of freshly crafted items. Once the traders select items from the new designs, vouchers for the entire shipment are prepared, and the payment is made through RTGS.

Some of the employees working for Choradia are sent to other states to showcase the jewelry to gold traders. For security reasons, instead of sending the gold jewelry with these employees, the jewelry is dispatched through BVC Logistics in the form of parcels.The employee working for the complainant, Choradia, named Gunwant Singh, was similarly involved in handling orders in other states. He had been working since 2014 and would collect gold jewelry parcels sent through BVC Logistics from their offices in states like Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.

After collecting the parcels, he would present the ordered and newly designed items to gold traders. Since the leftover unsold jewelry would be sent back through BVC Logistics, Gunwant Singh had earned the trust of his employer.In Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, two gold traders, Zaveri Brothers Diamond & Gold Pvt. Ltd. and Alukkas Gold Retail India Pvt. Ltd., had placed an order with Choradia for gold jewelry and requested designs of new items.

Accordingly, on January 5, 2021, a parcel containing 3340 grams of gold jewelry was sent to Coimbatore through BVC Logistics. Gunwant Singh was also sent to Coimbatore, where he collected the parcel from BVC Logistics' Coimbatore office on January 7, 2021.Zaveri Brothers Diamond & Gold Pvt. Ltd. purchased 235.900 grams of jewelry from the shipment, while Alukkas Gold Retail India Pvt. Ltd. bought 1335.770 grams.

Out of the total 3340 grams, 1571.670 grams were sold, and the remaining 1812.430 grams of unsold jewelry were supposed to be returned. However, instead of sending it back, Gunwant Singh contacted Choradia, informing him that a gold trader he knew from Rajasthan, Jitendra Singh Rao, had opened a jewelry shop named Dua LLP in Coimbatore. He claimed that Jitendra Singh Rao liked the unsold 1812.430 grams of jewelry and was interested in purchasing it.

Jitendra Singh Rao then contacted Choradia, requesting to keep the jewelry in his shop for 15 days for sale. Based on this, a voucher was prepared in Jitendra Singh Rao’s name for the 1812.430 grams of jewelry.Around 15 to 20 days after the transaction, when Choradia contacted Jitendra Singh Rao via phone to request payment for the jewelry, Rao kept asking for extensions, citing various reasons. Even Gunwant Singh, the employee, had not received any money from Jitendra Singh Rao. When asked, Gunwant Singh mentioned that Rao was facing difficulties but would make the payment soon.

Around May to June 2021, Gunwant Singh left his job and started working elsewhere. After that, when Choradia tried to contact him, Singh stopped answering calls, and Jitendra Singh Rao also ceased answering Choradia’s phone calls.On January 21, 2023, Choradia personally visited Jitendra Singh Rao's Dua Gold LLP shop in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, but Rao was not present. The staff at the shop informed Choradia that Jitendra Singh Rao was currently in his hometown in Rajasthan. Choradia then called Rao on his mobile, and Rao assured him that he would personally come to Mumbai to return pure gold in exchange for the jewelry. However, Rao neither came to Mumbai nor returned any gold.

When Choradia confronted Gunwant Singh regarding the 1812.43 grams of gold jewelry, Singh gave evasive answers. After that long waiting time Choradia to file a complaint with the police regarding the matter.