Police have arrested the owner of a jewellery firm in the Thane district of Maharashtra for allegedly duping at least 13 persons to the tune of nearly Rs 8 crore by promising good returns on investments, an official said.

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Thane police's crime branch arrested the accused, identified as Virit Gopalan Nair of VGN Jewellers, on Tuesday night, he said. Nair along with his wife had set up the jewellery and financial firm and started accepting deposits from the investors promising them lucrative returns. The couple had set up the branches of their firm at Dombivli, Ulhasnagar (both in Thane district) and Mulund (in Mumbai).