Condo resident teen held for robbing neighbour of 1.5 cr

Kolkata: A 19-year-old BCA student of a private college in Odisha, who resides in a Behala condo, was arrested for robbing his neighbours of Rs 1.5 crore, said police. The anti-burglary unit of DD said the accused, Harsvardhan Shaw, a resident of the first floor of Tower 3 of Diamond City West in Sarsuna, was close to the complainants, who also reside in Tower 3 on the fourth floor.Police said the stolen items included gold ornaments and bullion weighing around 1,150 g and cash totalling Rs 26.5 lakh. The list provided in the complaint includes multiple sets of gold bangles, bracelets, necklaces with earrings, rings, chains, a mang tikka, a nath and nose rings, along with a diamond-studded gold mangalsutra. The complaint also mentions gold items including a 50g biscuit, a 25g biscuit, a 15g biscuit, five 10g gold coins, and one 5g gold coin. The complainant alleged that Rs 25 lakh was stolen from an iron safe, while another Rs 1.5 lakh was taken from a wardrobe in the bedroom.
"A few days ago, Shaw's father, a broker-cum-consultant of KMC, bought a new car. As Shaw took the car out for a spin, he invited the victims, especially the young woman who is his age, for a photo op. Using this closeness, Shaw got duplicate keys of their house. He then waited for the victims to leave Kolkata. He also bought a money-counting machine and searched for an electric saw online," said an officer.Cops said that after the victims found out about the theft upon returning from Ranchi on Jan 24, the first person they called home to check CCTV footage was Shaw. Shaw, though, removed the hard disk that could have implicated him. "We checked seven days' footage and realised an insider was involved. It was then that we came to know that he ordered a money-counting machine but collected it late at night so that no attention was paid to it. His internet history showed he searched for an electric saw. We also saw him taking a white bag out of the house and returning with it. However, the bag was folded, indicating he took something out to throw it away. We later came to know that it was a saw. When we confronted him, he admitted to the crime," said a cop.Police said the complainant, a homemaker, alleged the theft took place between Jan 19 and 23.