Ahmedabad DCB arrests jewellery shop employee for alleged theft of gold ornaments worth ₹1.66 crore

The Detection of Crime Branch of Ahmedabad City has arrested a female employee of a jewellery showroom in Nikol for allegedly stealing gold ornaments worth over ₹1.66 crore from her workplace and attempting to flee the state with an accomplice.

According to the Crime Branch official, a complaint was registered at Nikol Police Station after Harshida Rajendrakumar Shetty, an employee at ‘Abhushan Jewellers’ located in Gravity Shopping Mall in Nikol, allegedly decamped with gold ornaments valued at ₹1.66 crore

Police said special teams of the Crime Branch were formed to trace the accused. During the investigation, officers reportedly examined nearly 300 CCTV camera footages and gathered inputs through human intelligence networks before locating and arresting Harshida Shetty, 38, a resident of Vedanta Bungalows in Nikol’s New Naroda area.

Officials said valuables worth ₹2.25 crore were recovered from the accused. The seized items include a gold bracelet valued at ₹9.98 lakh, a white gold eagle-imprinted ornament worth ₹1.34 lakh, a gold mangalsutra worth ₹7.43 lakh, a gold chain valued at ₹3.62 lakh and a mobile phone.

Investigators said preliminary inquiries revealed that Shetty had allegedly conspired in advance with one Mayur Ashokbhai Mali to execute the theft and escape from Gujarat. Police said that on May 11, Shetty allegedly stole the jewellery while on duty at the showroom and fled with Mali on a Bullet motorcycle to Udaipur before travelling onwards to Jaipur and Delhi.

However, during their stay at a hotel in Delhi, Mali allegedly abandoned Shetty and fled with a substantial portion of the stolen jewellery, police said.

The arrested accused has been identified as Harshida Rajendrakumar Erniya Shetty, 38, a resident of Vedanta Bungalows near Nikol.

The co-accused, identified as Mayur Ashokbhai Mali, a resident of Vastral, remains absconding.

Police said Shetty would be handed over to Nikol Police Station for further investigation in connection with the case.