Uditnagar Police have arrested an alleged inter-state jewellery thief accused of stealing a diamond-studded gold bangle worth around ₹1.5 lakh from a CaratLane retail jewellery showroom in Raurkela.
The accused was apprehended with the assistance of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) while travelling on the Howrah–Mumbai CSMT Mail train.
According to police, the case was registered on July 2 following a complaint lodged by Somanth Basa (43), Store Manager and Head of the CaratLane showroom near Canara Bank at Meridian Tower, Uditnagar. The complaint alleged that on the night of June 30, a customer posing as a genuine buyer stole a gold bangle studded with diamonds from the showroom and fled.
During investigation, police received credible information from the RPF that the suspected accused, Dinesh Kumar Thakkar alias Dinesh Vishram Thakkar (63), was travelling from Kharagpur to Raipur aboard Train No. 12810 Howrah–Mumbai CSMT Mail. Acting on the tip-off, a police team rushed to Rourkela Railway Station and apprehended him with the assistance of RPF personnel.
During interrogation, the accused allegedly confessed to entering the jewellery showroom on the pretext of purchasing ornaments and taking advantage of an opportunity to steal the diamond-studded gold bangle before escaping unnoticed.
Police said the accused further disclosed that he later sold the stolen ornament to an unidentified person at Kolkata’s Chor Bazaar for ₹45,000 in the black market. He allegedly spent about ₹5,000 during his journey, while the remaining ₹40,000 was recovered from his possession.
Investigators also found that the accused was allegedly involved in a similar theft at a Bluestone Jewellery showroom inside Esplanade Mall in Bhubaneswar on July 1, where he reportedly stole a gold kada and later disposed of it at Kolkata’s Chor Bazaar.
The accused is a native of Vadodara, Gujarat, and was residing in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
Police seized ₹40,000 in cash, a gold-coloured bangle (bala), a Titan wristwatch, a pair of goggles, clothing allegedly worn during the offence, a belt, a train ticket from Howrah to Raipur, and a Vivo Y200e 5G mobile phone.
Police said the accused’s criminal antecedents are being verified, and further investigation is underway to ascertain his involvement in other similar offences across different states.
