Delhi Police have arrested a 36-year-old man for allegedly stealing approximately 4 kilograms of gold jewelry, valued in crores, from a showroom in Karol Bagh where he was employed.
Officials said on Wednesday that the accused, Manoj Dosand, had been working at the store for the past 12 years before he disappeared on June 26, the cops mentioned.
The incident came to light when an audit revealed a discrepancy of 3,980 grams of gold jewelry, all of which was accessible to Manoj.
“The prime suspect in this case was Dosand, who was a reliable employee for over 12 years and was responsible for managing the stock of 70-80 kg of antique and regular gold jewelry,” according to the Delhi Police.
They stated that, “He stopped coming to work after June 26, and on June 29, his wife reported him missing at Gulabi Bagh police station.”
On July 3, a case was registered under Section 306/3(5) of the BNS at Karol Bagh police station.
The police, during the preliminary investigation into this case, took up a massive interstate manhunt, where Manoj was tracked across several states that included Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.
During the inquiry, the CCTV footage was analysed by the team, and they followed a trail of clues, including second-hand mobile phones purchased in Agra and Bangalore.
Following a 17-day search after conducting a raid, Manoj was nabbed from a hotel in Tamil Nadu’s Ooty on Sunday, a senior officer said.
During the sustained interrogation, he revealed that he had developed a severe addiction to online gambling, which led him to steal the gold jewelry.
He disclosed that he would later sell the stolen items to local goldsmiths in Karol Bagh under various pretexts. The accused confessed to stealing and disposing of approximately 4 kilograms of gold in this manner. He also disclosed that he had won Rs 20 lakh through online gambling just days before.
The officers confiscated 100 grams of stolen gold, Rs 2.3 lakh in cash, and two mobile phones from his possession.
“Efforts are underway by the officer to unearth the stolen gold and its proceeds and identify co-conspirators involved in the Karol Bagh gold melting racket,” the officer stated.