Man robs brother's jewellery store over property dispute

In a case of sibling rivalry going completely out of hand, the property cell of Mumbai Crime Branch arrested a jeweller yesterday for carrying out a theft of Rs 1.33 crore at his brother's jewellery store.

Where it happened: Taking advantage of the fact that there were fewer people on the street owing to heavy rain, the accused stole jewellery worthu00a0Rs 1.33 crore. Pic/Atul Kamble

According to the authorities, Jayantilal Himmatmal Gurjar was involved in a property dispute with his brother Vijay Kumar Himmatmal Gurjar. Angered over the dispute, Jayantilal planned and executed a robbery at Vijay Kumar's jewellery store with the help of some Dharavi goons.

The crime
On September 11, a theft had taken place at Pooja Jewellers, Panchganga Society, Shivaji Nagar at Lower Parel. The owner Vijay Kumar was shocked when he opened his store to find valuables worth Rs 1.33 crore missing. Vijay immediately registered a complaint at N M Joshi police station following which investigations began.

"The owner of the store stayed on the second floor of the building while his shop was on the ground floor. On the day of the theft, it was raining heavily and we believe that the accused took advantage of the fact that there were few people on the street," said an official from the N M Joshi police station.

A team headed by inspector Nandkumar Gopale from Property Cell of Mumbai Crime Branch also began inquiries into the case. Questioning and inquiries led the authorities to pick up Roshan Shaikh, Mukesh Hasnale, Sanjay Roy, Sonu Iyer, Yasin Shaikh, Manju Shiva Goda and Salim Shaikh from Dharavi - all local goons.

During questioning, Goda named Vijay's brother Jayantilal as the mastermind behind the theft. "The two brothers were fighting over some property. Later, we recovered valuables worth Rs 30 lakh from Jayantilal's residence," said a Crime Branch official, adding, "Jayantilal has several cases registered against him."u00a0