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Diamonds stolen from bank lockers in Mumbai using duplicate keys

Four persons, including a real estate agent and a diamond trader, have been arrested for stealing diamonds worth Rs4.40 crore from lockers of a State Bank of India branch by making as many as 15 duplicate keys.

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Four persons, including a real estate agent and a diamond trader, have been arrested for stealing diamonds worth Rs4.40 crore from lockers of a State Bank of India branch by making as many as 15 duplicate keys.

For making duplicate of a single key, the gang had to labour for three months, police said today.

Real estate agent Shamshuddin Azmi, 47, diamond trader Ajay Mehta, 48, key-maker Fareed Hashmi, 47, and their associate Chandrasen Berde, 49, were arrested yesterday and court remanded them in police custody till January 25.

The stolen diamonds have been recovered from Mehta's residence in Valsad, Gujarat, police said.

The gang first hired locker in the branch. Then, as instructed by Hashmi, his three aides  visited the lockers room, inserted blank keys in the keyholes of lockers to get impressions that helped him make duplicates, said joint police commissioner (crime) Himanshu Roy.

"Hashmi prepared one common custodian key applicable to all 1800 lockers in the branch, and 14 duplicate customers' keys over the period of three years. They opened 14 lockers by adopting this unique modus operandi and stole Rs4.40 crore-worth diamonds," he added.

A case of theft was registered in April last year in DB Marg Police Station by diamond trader Mehul Doshi, who stated that his diamonds worth Rs 1.65 crore deposited in safety locker of the Opera House branch of SBI had been stolen.

Initially, local police could not achieve any break-through, so case was closed, Roy said.

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