HYDERABAD: Police on Tuesday apprehended a jeweller and his two employees for allegedly attempting to smuggle gold ornaments weighing over 15 kg. The accused were allegedly working for a well-known jewellery chains outlets in Bengaluru and Mysuru.
After the preliminary probe, cops are yet to ascertain the exact source of the gold. They have handed over the seized commodity and the accused to the Income Tax Department. During a routine vehicle check in Aliabad, Shalibanda police noticed an over-speeding auto trying to evade the police. The vehicle, which was being driven rashly, proceeded towards Aramghar road.
The officials passed on the information to Chandrayangutta police who intercepted the auto and nabbed two persons. Employees of Raja Ram Jewels in Charminar —Vaishnav Manoj Kumar (24) and Pradeep Agarwal (23) —were found carrying huge quantities of gold ornaments.
The duo claimed that their employer Yashaswi Agarwal had handed over the gold to them to be delivered at Joyalukkas outlets in Mysore in Bengaluru.
During questioning, cops found that the duo did not have any IT documents for the gold. “Yashaswi has claimed that Joyalukkas had placed an order with him for ornaments and he was delivering the same. However, he failed to produce any relevant documents to support the claims. The seized gold is worth over `5 crore,” said police commissioner (in-charge) VV Srinivas Rao.