Lucknow, Jan 18 (IANS): Two former employees of a courier firm have been arrested and gold and diamond valuables, which were stolen from the delivery van of a private courier company on December 30, have been recovered from them in Uttar Pradesh's Hazratganj.

The accused, Raju Tiwari and Shubham Tiwari of Sitapur, have been arrested by Hazratganj police.

Police sources said that Raju used to work as a loader in the courier firm, from where he got information about the packet in which gold and diamond valuables were kept. He and his brother Shubham stole the valuables.

Raju left his job in December before the heist. He knew that the items were being shipped through his courier company to a prominent jewellery shop in Hazratganj.

Raju confessed to police that on December 30, when the delivery van was parked outside a shopping mall in Hazratganj, he and Shubham had gone to the spot. The two delivery men had gone inside while the driver of the van was alone.

"My brother Shubham engaged the driver in a conversation to distract him and in the meantime, I entered the van and stole the parcel," said Raju.

Station house officer (SHO) Hazratganj Shyam Babu Shukla said that with the help of surveillance and an informer's tip-off, the accused were arrested.

"We have recovered diamond and gold jewellery worth Rs 10 lakh from their possession," the SHO said.