A major case of gold theft has come to light at Arav Jewellers, located on CG Road, Navrangpura. The shop owner, Pratik Ashwinbhai Soni, has lodged a police complaint against three of his employees, alleging that they systematically stole gold from the store over the past few months. The estimated loss amounts to approximately ₹1.7 crore.  

Incident Details

According to the complaint filed at Navrangpura Police Station, Soni discovered discrepancies in his accounts on February 8, 2025. While reconciling transactions, he noticed that a delivery of 500 grams of gold was falsely recorded under a trader’s account without any corresponding payment received in the company’s bank records. Suspicious of fraudulent activity, he confronted one of his employees, Hardik Kanani, who initially claimed it was a clerical error. Upon further questioning, Kanani admitted that another employee, Yash Soni, had taken 500 grams of gold from the store.  

Subsequent CCTV footage confirmed Yash Soni pocketing gold biscuits from the store’s drawer on February 3. Further investigation revealed that he had not acted alone — his colleagues, Hardik Kanani and Amit Bhalani, were also involved in the scam. The accused allegedly manipulated software entries and misappropriated funds.  

Confession and Recovery

After being confronted, Yash Soni confessed to stealing 500 grams of gold and admitted to selling it. He revealed that ₹17–18 lakh from the proceeds had been distributed among his accomplices, while he retained ₹12 lakh. Upon police intervention, he returned ₹12 lakh in cash. Further interrogation of Kanani and Bhalani revealed that they had received significant sums from Yash Soni for altering software records.  

The owner further discovered that, apart from the 500 grams initially identified, an additional 900 grams of gold had been stolen over a period dating back to December 2024. This brought the total stolen quantity to 1,400 grams, with an estimated market value of ₹1.7 crore.  

Police Investigation Underway  

Navrangpura Police have registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, including charges of theft, criminal breach of trust, and conspiracy. 

Senior Police Inspector AA Desai confirmed that an investigation is ongoing to recover the remaining gold and have arrested two accused in the matter right now , but main accused Yash is absconding and search for him is on.

As per police officials, Yash Soni was hired by the owner four months back only, he is a resident of Viramgam and used to travel for work. While Amit bhalani had been working over here for the past 7 years, while Hardik Kanani, had been working for past 1.5 years.