Karnataka: Rs 30 pav bhaji payment helps police to solve 2 crore gold heist case from jewellery shop in Kalaburgi
The police have arrested three members of an inter-state gang and retrieved 2.865 kg of gold valued at ₹2.10 crore and ₹4.80 lakh in cash after a robbery took place in a goldsmith’s store in the crowded Saraf Bazaar area on 11th July. Sohail Shaikh alias Badshah (30), Ayodhya Prasad Chouhan (48) and mastermind Farooq Ahmad Malik (40) have been captured while the hunt is on for Arbaz and Sajid.
The accused reportedly developed the plan 25 days prior to the crime, which was carried out on 11th July at 12:15 pm. Farooq was nabbed from Mumbai and the other two were taken into custody from West Bengal. The incident transpired in Karnataka’s Kalaburagi.
Notably, the daytime robbery case was resolved when the culprit was apprehended with the assistance of a Pav Bhaji that Farooq had paid via a digital wallet. Four burglars armed with guns and knives as well as wearing masks stormed into Marthula (Sibghatullah per other reports) Malik’s gold jewellery store. After tying a rope around his hands and feet, they opened the locker and stole money and three kilogrammes of gold ornaments.
The owner of the store, however, told the authorities that just 805 g of gold had disappeared to conceal the undisclosed gold he had in his store. Five squads of police were assembled to apprehend them. Over the past ten days, they went to various districts in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. According to an officer, the police first began tracking the accused using CCTV footage gathered from the area, reported The Indian Express.
He informed, “Before the robbery, the accused came to the spot and had a last-minute discussion. Farooq was also present. After they left for the shop, Farooq bought a pav bhaji paying Rs 30 through Phone Pe. He was monitoring the robbery. The others returned after the robbery and fled the spot along with Farooq. We checked the payment made and got the contact number. We found that the number belonged to Farooq. It was a major lead.”
The cops stated that the perpetrators melted the gold ornaments, sold some of the precious metal and returned home. They had also discarded their cellphones before moving to their native places, however, police teams were already waiting for them. The official added, “We are looking for two more accused, named Arbaz and Sajid, in the case.”
According to the investigation, the culprits scared their victims during the heist using a lighter shaped like a gun. They then took a bus to Mumbai and split up. The police conveyed they were also looking into Marthula Malik after he later acknowledged that three kilogrammes of gold had been taken from his shop.
After a financial setback, Farooq, also a jeweller, teamed up with Prasad to plan a theft and invited him to participate. Furthermore, the latter recruited his accomplice, Sohail who is a tailor, in the crime and the two joined Farooq in the heist by travelling from Mumbai to Kalaburagi.
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