Jewellery shop owner Naresh Kumar didn't have the foggiest idea that his trustworthy employee of two years would turn on him.

Staffer 'polishes' off gold jewellery worth Rs 80 lakh

Jewellery shop owner Naresh Kumar didn't have the foggiest idea that his trustworthy employee of two years would turn on him.

Kumar was in for a shock recently when he discovered his shop had been burgled and thieves had made away with 4 kg gold worth Rs 80 lakh.

Investigations into the case led to Shesharam Raghunath (24), Kumar's employee, who has been arrested along with two others for the robbery.

He hails from Nimbaji village in Pauli district, Rajasthan. As Kumar too is from north India, he let Raghunath stay at his place, a police officer said.

Over time, Kumar began to trust Raghunath and sometimes let him manage the shop on his own.

Hatching the plot

Though Kumar paid Raghunath well, the latter was not satisfied, the police said. He thought that Kumar was earning well enough to pay him a better salary. This led him to hatch the plot of robbing Kumar.

Two months ago, when Raghunath was alone at the shop, he got a duplicate key of the main door made. But he realised that he needed others' help lest he be suspected of the crime.

Around a month ago, Raghunath told Kumar that he needed to visit an ailing relative in Rajasthan, the police said. There, he allegedly tied up with his friends Prakash Motilal Kumar and Bharat Choudhary.

Raghunath returned to the city around a fortnight ago and allegedly told Kumar that he was quitting and going back to Rajasthan.

However, he stayed in Bangalore. He showed the shop to his associatesu00a0 and gave them the details of the shop's layout. The trio planned to commit the crime on Sunday when the shop remains closed.

Rude shock

On July 1, around 10 am, Raghunath's aides opened the shop and got in, the police said. However, no one suspected anything amiss as the duo pretended that they knew the shop well.

They quietly cleaned out the shop and left. The robbery was discovered in the evening when Kumar went to the shop for a casual visit. He immediately lodged a complaint with the Ulsoor police.

Upon investigation, the police learnt that Raghunath was in the city, and tracked his cellphone records and traced the trio. The accused were arrested on Monday and the police recovered the stolen gold from them.

Despite repeated attempts, DCP Chandrashekhar (East) was unavailable for comment. However, Sub-Inspector Ramamoorthy M confirmed the robbery and that they had recovered the gold.

Kumar said, "The three have been arrested and the police are carrying out further investigations."

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels