SALEM: A special team of the Salem District Police on Tuesday arrested a jewellery shop employee who stole 2.5 kg of gold biscuits worth `75 lakh.
The accused, A Paneerselvam, (38), an employee of Coimbatore Jewellers in Salem, used to get gold biscuits from outstation jewellery showrooms, make ornaments and give it back to the suppliers. During one such assignment he went to Thriuvananthapuram on February 20, 2011 and brought three gold biscuits of 338 soveriegn from Beema Jewellers. Panneerselvam,who reached Salem by a Bangalore-bound private bus, told his employer that upon reaching Omalur that he found his bag open and the gold biscuits missing. He claimed that passengers who got into the bus at Nagercoil could have stolen them.
Based on a complaint from the jewellery shop owner Premnath, the police formed a special team led by Omalur Inspector S Baskaran. According to SP Ashwin, the team suspected foul play during preliminary probe. It was found that the bus did not stop at Nagercoil but only at Karur. Cops then started watching Paneerselvam and found a difference in his spending pattern.
He frequented a place near Dalmia Board where he had buried the gold. He used to dig up the ground to make sure the gold was safe. When Paneerselvam went there on Tuesday he was caught.