Man who fled with employer’s gold worth Rs5 crore arrested from Goa

Officials of the Mumbai Crime Branch on Tuesday nabbed a 26-year-old man, who had fled two weeks ago with 23kg of gold worth Rs5 crore belonging to his employer’s Zaveri Bazar-based jewellery unit.

The accused, Paresh Rawal, was nabbed from Hotel Laxmi on Morjim Beach in Goa. While on the run, he had earlier stayed in Pune with a relative.

“We have recovered 3kg gold from the consignment that Rawal was going to bring from a Delhi-based client of his employer, Devikrupa Jewellers. The remaining gold has not been sold but is with some of his accomplices. Rawal is not the mastermind in this case. We have learnt who he is and have launched a manhunt for him.”

Rawal had left for Delhi on December 7 and was supposed to leave with a consignment of raw gold for Mumbai the next day. On December 10, when he did not return with the consignment and could not be contacted on his phone, his employer registered a case with the LT Marg police station.

A team from the police station and the Crime Branch had been on the lookout for him, visiting Rajasthan, Pune and Goa.

Crime Branch officials received information that he was staying in a hotel at Calangute Beach, Goa. But when they reached there, they found that he was staying at Morjim Beach. They reached there on Tuesday night and nabbed him.

Rawal had been working with Devikrupa Jewellers for the past eight months. He had ferried several huge consignments, gaining the trust of his employer.