A 100-Metre Run Helps Cops Catch Jewel Thieves

Hyderabad: Special teams from the West Zone task force and Jubilee Hills detective department police lay in wait for 46 hours in freezing temperatures at the Indo-Nepal border and chased two accused, arresting them just about 100 metres from the border in connection with a Rs 1.3-crore robbery of the house of a city-based businessman on Tuesday, sources said on Thursday.

Bhupender Shahi and Krishna Chand were arrested for allegedly stealing jewellery worth Rs 1.3 crore from the house of Naveen Ravindra Sharma in Nandagiri Hills, Jubilee Hills, on February 5 after sedating the watchman. Jiban Chand, who allegedly planned the robbery, is still at large.

Within 24 hours of the February 5 robbery, three police teams were deployed to border check posts at Gorakhpur, Rupaidiha and Sonauli in Uttar Pradesh, following inputs that the accused were attempting to flee to Nepal. The teams coordinated with the Border Security Force (BSF).

By the evening, technical teams of Jubilee Hills police examined over 800 CCTV cameras and identified the accused as Bhupender Shahi and Krishna Chand.

“We spotted Shahi and Krishna Chand at the Indo-Nepal border along with an unidentified Nepali woman. When our team headed towards them, they pushed our lead team and ran towards an open stretch between the India-Nepal border. After chasing them for 100 metres, we apprehended them. BSF personnel told us that if they had crossed another 100 metres, they would have entered Nepal, frustrating our efforts,” a police officer disclosed.

Police said that, based on the confession of the duo during questioning at the BSF office, another associate has been taken into custody. Details were withheld citing the ongoing investigation. The stolen jewellery was also recovered.

The accused told the police Jiban Chand, a Nepal-based criminal previously involved in a property offence in the city, was the mastermind. Police said he supplied sedatives to Bhupender and Krishna Chand to execute the theft.

The technical team also found that after the theft, the accused entered Secunderabad railway station to mislead investigators, exited through the parcel section gate and boarded a private bus to Pune. From there, they travelled to Mumbai, where their associates, identified as Lalit and Janakasai, allegedly provided shelter.

“A seven-minute chase by our officers made the arrest of Bhupender Shahi and Krishna Chand possible. If our teams had not acted swiftly, we would have lost them. Jiban Chand is presently in Nepal; we have informed Interpol to apprehend him,” sources said.

“So far we have recovered a portion of the stolen jewellery. The rest will be recovered after the other gang members are arrested,” police said. Both accused allegedly confessed to their role during questioning. They were produced before a court and remanded to judicial custody.

“Our teams are still in Pune, Mumbai and Nasik to get hold of Janaksai, Lalit and an unidentified Nepali woman,” the sources said, adding that gangs operating out of Nepal were wanted in five more cases in the city, where over Rs 7 crore was stolen.