Man Arrested in Pydhonie Jewellery Theft Case, Police Recover ₹1.16 Crore

The Pydhonie police have arrested a 28-year-old man and launched a manhunt for his older brother after ₹1.20 crore in weekly collections was stolen from an imitation jewellery distributor in Pydhonie, south Mumbai. Investigators have recovered ₹1.16 crore of the stolen cash from Rajasthan.

According to the police, the complainant, 37-year-old Vikas Jain, runs an imitation jewellery business in the area. On August 8, Jain instructed his 30-year-old employee, Pirsingh Devda, to bring the weekly collections from the store to his office. Instead of delivering the money, Pirsingh conspired with his younger brother, 28-year-old Yuvraj Devda, who had also previously worked for Jain, to execute the theft.

Pirsingh brought a substitute trolley bag to the office that looked almost identical to Jain’s original bag. Before delivering it, he took the ₹1.20 crore in cash and stuffed the decoy bag with cardboard. He then left the cardboard-filled bag in the office and fled.

The crime came to light when Jain arrived at the office on Monday and opened the trolley bag to deposit the cash into a bank account. Upon discovering that the bag contained only cardboard and that his employee was missing, Jain immediately approached the police to register a complaint.

Deputy Commissioner of Police R Ragasudha stated that a case was registered for criminal breach of trust under Section 316 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. An investigation team led by Senior Police Inspector Laxmikant Salunkhe, alongside Sub-Inspectors Kalpesh Chavan and Sachin Lahamge, began tracking the accused.

The police traced Pirsingh to Ahmedabad, Gujarat, where he had met his brother Yuvraj and handed over the stolen cash before fleeing. Investigating teams then tracked Yuvraj to the brothers' native place in Sirohi, Rajasthan. Officers arrested Yuvraj and recovered ₹1.16 crore from his possession.

Police suspect that Pirsingh may have fled the country and are in the process of issuing a Look Out Circular to prevent his escape and secure his arrest.