Diamonds Worth Rs 3.5 Crore Stolen, Two Arrested: Mumbai Police

The Mumbai police have arrested two diamond brokers in connection with the theft of precious stones worth Rs 3.5 crore, an official said on Monday.

The police arrested Bharat Kandol (39) from Gujarat and Amrut Bhai Patel (58) from the Mumbai's Goregaon, while the mastermind behind the crime, Kaushik Chovatila, is on the run, the official from Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) police station said.

An FIR was registered on July 18, following which the duo was arrested last week and the stolen stones were recovered from them, he said.

The accused had allegedly contacted a diamond merchant, expressing interest in purchasing some stones and visited his BKC office on July 7, the official said.

They had selected three stones during their visit and left the premises saying they will return in a week with the money for the diamonds, he said.

The merchant later realised that the diamonds chosen by the accused were missing and on examining the CCTV footage from the premises, saw the duo stealing the stones, the official said.

''We have arrested the accused under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 409 (criminal breach of trust) and 419 (impersonation) of the Indian Penal Code,'' inspector Rajesh Gawli of BKC police station said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)