Friday, October 22, 2010

Gujarat police crack bullion loot case, 4 held

By Rishi Banerji

Surat: With the arrest of four persons, including three women, from Mumbai on Friday, Surat Rural Police cracked the sensational Kosamba loot case.

The cops seized 1,310 gram of gold and Rs15 lakh in cash, kept in a house in Vadodara. However, the police failed to arrest the mastermind of the loot case and the tribals who looted the jewellery shop.

A week after a group of 20-25 tribals stormed and looted the jewellery shop in Kosamba, Surat police succeed in solving the case and nabbing the culprits. Acting on tip-offs, the police reached Mumbai and arrested three women and one person involved in the case.

Those arrested are identified as Ashokumar Jain, a resident of Zaveri bazaar in Mumbai and engaged in jewellery business, Parvinbibi Pathan, 55, and Pinki Pathan, 29, residents of Vadodara and Salma Sheikh, 45, a resident of Mumbai. Police said that the entire plan for the loot was prepared by Salim Malai, a Pakistani national, who is living illegally at Mandvi in Kutch. The case was cracked by tracking the cellphone records of Malai.

"Malai came into contact with some gangsters in Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh and asked them to loot KM Choksi jewellery shop in Kosamba. Actually, Malai used to frequently visit Kosamba, where he learnt about massive business of KM Choksi jewellers. He planned the entire loot and executed it," Kesarsinh Bhatti, DSP of Surat Rural Police said, at press meeting on Friday.

Police said that after committing the crime, the looters went to Vadodara and kept valuables and cash at Parvinbibi's house. Parvinbibi is a relative of Malai. Later, Pravinbibi and Pinki took everything to Sheikh's residence in Mumbai. Ashokumar helped Malai in planning the loot and also in concealing the looted items in Mumbai.

"Malai was arrested in 2007 for helping two ISI agents enter India with duplicate notes worth Rs30 lakh. Investigation is on to recover the remaining jewellery and cash," Bhatti added.

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