Woman employee booked for alleged ₹1.11 crore gold theft from Nikol jewellery showroom

A woman employee has been booked for allegedly stealing more than 1.2 kg of gold jewellery worth over ₹1.11 crore from a jewellery showroom in Ahmedabad’s Nikol area and fleeing the premises during business hours, police said on Tuesday.

According to Nikol police, the accused, identified as Harshidaben Rajendrabhai Hatti, had been working as a marketing executive and salesperson at the Abhushan Gold and Silver showroom in Gravity Shopping Mall near Anmol Circle for the past 11 months.

The complaint was lodged by Darshan Jawaharlal Jain, owner of the showroom, who alleged that the theft took place between 4 and 4.30 pm on May 11. The showroom, located near the Swaminarayan temple complex in Nikol, employs around 19 staff members, including salespersons, marketing executives, helpers and security personnel.

In his complaint, Jain stated that he had left the showroom for lunch at around 2 pm while the manager and other staff members remained present. After returning to the showroom at around 5 pm, staff members informed him that some jewellery items appeared to be missing from the display section.

During preliminary checks, the complainant allegedly found that Harshidaben had left the showroom earlier in the evening citing an emergency without prior permission. Suspicion arose after she could not be contacted on her mobile phone, which was found switched off.

The CCTV footage from the showroom allegedly showed the accused removing gold ornaments from cupboards behind her workstation and concealing them in the pockets of her clothing. She was later seen proceeding towards the upper floor storeroom, collecting her bag and leaving the showroom premises.

Following an overnight stock verification, the showroom management claimed that gold ornaments weighing 1,211.991 grams had gone missing. The stolen items allegedly included gold chains, rings, bangles, mangalsutras, pendants, a gold watch and other ornaments of both 18-carat and 22-carat purity.

Police stated that the total value of the stolen jewellery was estimated at approximately ₹ 1.11 crore, though different valuations mentioned in the FIR placed the loss at over ₹ 1.5 crore as per detailed inventory calculations.

Based on the complaint, Nikol police registered a case of theft and criminal breach of trust and initiated an investigation. Police officials said efforts were underway to trace the accused, who remains absconding.