Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Feb 8: The police here have received a complaint of theft from a shop where gold and silver melting work was being undertaken. Shop owner, Pundalik Patil, in his complaint to the town police station here, said that the thieves, who broke open the locks of his shop on Wednesday February 6 night, took away five lac rupees in cash, apart from 50 grams of gold powder and two kilograms of silver powder kept inside. The total loss in the incident has been estimated at eight lac rupees.

Pundalik Patil, a resident of Vadiraja Cross here, said that the theft came to light when his nephew, Sagar, who also worked as his assistant, opened door on Thursday morning. Patil has been running the business since the last three decades at Vadiraja Road here. He attends to the task of collecting ornaments from various shops and returning them after converting them into blocks through the process of melting. Patil said he used to collect silver and gold powder which falls to the ground, by sweeping and pooling them in plastic buckets for being sold to certain persons.

The complainant said he had visited his native place, Sangli, about a month ago, for selling a landed property owned by his wife. The sale proceeds of five lac rupees was kept in the drawer inside the shop, he claimed, adding that the gold and silver powder were stored inside plastic buckets placed inside the room there.

The police have registered a case.