Mumbai Crime: 5 persons arrested for killing jeweller

The five accused were arrested within 12 hours of the crime. Pics/Satej Shinde

The Dahisar police on Thursday arrested five persons for allegedly killing a jeweller. The five accused were arrested within 12 hours of the crime.

According to police sources, three robbers, who shot dead the jeweler identified as Shailendra Pandey, are not from Mumbai. They arrived in the city on June 29 from Indore in Madhya Pradesh. With the help of two locals, they stole an active from Manav Kalyan Nagar in Dahisar East and murdered the jeweller the next day. The sixth accused, who is said to be the mastermind, was giving them instructions from Indore.

The arrested accused have been identified as Auysh Sanjay Pandey (19), Nikhil Manakji Chandal (21), Uday Sanjay Bali (21) - residents of Madhya Pradesh, and Chirag Indarmal Rawal (21) and Ankit Sanjay Mahadik (21) - residents of Mumbai. The mastermind, identified as 22-year-old Banti Patidar and a resident of Madhya Pradesh, is still at large.

It is learned that all five accused did a recce of the area a night before the crime and they all slept in Chirag's car that night.

The next day, they barged into Om Sairaj Jewellery shop and shot dead 37-year-old Shailendra Pandey, who was alone in the shop. The accused looted gold worth Rs 12 lakh and fled from the spot.

Vishwas Nangre Patil, joint commissioner of police (Law and Order), said after the case was registered, they prepared 10 teams. "The police officers scanned the CCTV recording and saw the accused riding triple seat on a two-wheeler. We put barricades on all the exit points of the city. We found the Activa bike abandoned at Fountain Hotel on Ghodbunder Road," said an officer from Dahisar police station.

The police said that the accused parked the bike and fled in a car towards Gujarat.

Meanwhile, during the investigation of the bike theft incident, the police saw a suspicious car in the CCTV footage. The cops also noticed that the shoes of the accused were similar to the ones seen in jewellery theft case.

After investigating, car owner Chirag was detained for questioning and he revealed the details. Based on his statement, a police team was sent to Surat and the three accused were held from Barbodhan village in Surat. "The house was locked from outside. We broke the lock and caught the trio and also recovered all the looted jewelry," the police officer added.