Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Apr 6: The Hubballi suburban station police have succeeded in arresting a thief who had stolen Rs 38 lac belonging to a jeweller from the city during a bus journey. The arrested man is of Uttar Pradesh origin, it is gathered.

The thief has been identified as Muhammed Safiq Malwa Dobi, a native of Hasanpur village in Moradabad taluk, Amroha district, Uttar Pradesh. He worked as a bicycle repairer, said city police commissioner, Pandurang Rane, addressing a press conference at Hubballi on Tuesday April 5.

Raveendra Nikkam, who owns Mahalaxmi Jewellers here, had sent his nephew, Sandeep Kadam and another person named Vivek Patil to Mumbai with Rs 38 lac in cash for buying gold. The two men, after reaching Mumbai, could not buy gold as nation-wide strike of jewellers was on. They took a bus bound for Hubballi from Mumbai on March 21 on their return journey to the city. The cash bag that had been kept in the luggage carrier attached to their seat had been found stolen upon reaching Hubballi.

The policemen, during investigation, found that a youth had got down near Kittur, claiming that he had missed to get down at Belagavi as he was asleep then. The CCTV footage in the bus gave information of his activity. The police conducted investigation on the basis of the mobile number he had provided at the time of booking the ticket. When he was found, arrested and questioned, Dobi gave the details. He said that he was going to Dharwad from Mumbai on march 21, when he saw that two youngsters were repeatedly keeping an eye on a bag kept in the career. "I guessed that the bag in question had valuables. When all passengers were asleep, under the pretext of missing to notice Belagavi because of sleep, I got down near Kittur by requesting the driver to stop, along with my belongings and the bag of the youth," he stated. He informed police that he found two bundles of cash in the bag, after which he said he hid the bag with a large bundle of cash at a secluded spot, and visited his elder's sister's house at Hirebagewadi with the other smaller bundle. He said on the way, he threw away his cell phone near M K Hubballi.