Two police constables were arrested for helping a gang steal diamonds worth Rs 24 lakh from a Borivli jeweller in Mumbai. A diamond agent, who is the mastermind behind the theft, is on the run and his two associates, including a woman, have been arrested.
A few days ago agent Raj approached the jeweller, who had his office on LT Road in Borivli (West), and asked if he was willing to buy diamonds from a Gujarat merchant. When the jeweller agreed, Raj set up a meeting with the merchant in the jeweller's office. Raj was mostly accompanied by his female friend Sujata Gaurkar.
On Wednesday evening, around 4.30 pm, the Gujarat merchant with his own agent came to Borivli. The duo went to the Borivli jeweller's shop where Raj, Gourkar and another Raj's associates, Pranay Shah were already present. The merchant from Gujarat pulled out two packets of diamonds worth Rs 24 lakhs.
The Borivli jeweller, who examined the diamonds for purity, said that he wished to buy the diamonds after a brief discussion. Meanwhile, nobody noticed that Gaurkar had been texting someone all along.
Meanwhile, two men, identifying themselves as constables from Mumbai police commissionerate at the Crawford market, said they had learnt that there was some illegal diamond dealing going on. The duo asked the Borivli jeweller and Raj to come with them in the vehicle after they seized the diamonds.
Later, when they reached Borivli east, the cops asked the jeweller and Raj to alight. The cops, then gave a phone number to the jeweller and asked him to call and reach the commissionerate at 8pm with the Gujarat merchant, and left taking the diamonds with them.
When the jeweller tried calling the number that the cops gave him, he found that it was not working. He then lodged a complaint at the Borivli police station. When the investigators checked the CCTV footage, they identified one of the policemen.
Both the cops – Chandrakant Gavare and Santosh Gavas – were arrested. It was later found that Raj had conspired with the accused policemen. Investigations reveal that Gourkar had been in touch with the cops all along over WhatsApp and had let them into the shop that was locked on the inside.
A case has been registered against all the accused and the four arrested people were produced before magistrate's court. They were remanded in police custody till August 5, according to Times of India report. Diamonds worth Rs 13 lakh have been recovered.
