Court orders police to returnrecovered gold to jeweller

YAVATMAL: Judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) of Kelapur court, VG Upadhye, on Tuesday ordered Pandharkawda police to return the recovered gold biscuits and ornaments worth Rs 65 lakh to the owner immediately.
According to police, the court has ordered the release of gold biscuits and other ornaments seized by them in the sensational case of robbery committed on December 30 last year at Pandharkawda ST stand to jeweller Shailesh Varma of Ghatanji.
"Varma has executed an indemnity bond of Rs 65 lakh together with a bank guarantee of Rs 8 lakh for the release of the gold articles seized in crime no. 4/2011 in his favour," sources said.
Ghatanji-based jeweller Varma had sent his servant Manoj Sawarkar to Hyderabad on December 28 with a cash of Rs 20 lakh, but without any protection. Sawarkar purchased 26 gold biscuits of 100 gram each and some other gold and silver jewellery from Hyderabad with the help of Yogesh Varma and returned to Ghatanji by bus. However, he was robbed of gold articles at Pandharkawda bus stand by the accused under the guise of police constables.
Sawarkar reported the matter to Shailesh on phone who lodged a complaint with Pandharkawda police station alleging that unknown miscreants posing as cops robbed him of 10 gold biscuits of 100 grams each.
The police registered an offence under sections 394, 420 and 34 of IPC against the fleeing accused and launched a manhunt. Initial investigation baffled the cops as they could recover 24 gold biscuits and a few other ornaments despite the claim of 10 biscuits by the complainant.
The police initially arrested three accused, two of them constables attached to Yavatmal city police station, and recovered 24 gold biscuits. On interrogation, the accused spilled the beans and named one more cop attached to the city police station as a co-accused.
The cops then arrested brother of the absconding constable and recovered two more gold biscuits from his house. The fifth accused is still at large and the SP is learnt to have completed official procedures to dismiss all the three cops involved in robbery from service.
One of the accused Bhalchandra alias Balya Madavi, son of a retired police sub-inspector, has filed an affidavit that the gold biscuits seized from his house belonged to him. It was a hidden treasure found in his field while digging, he said. His father has written to top police brass and alleged that the cops seized 20 kg gold which he got from his farm and that the controversial jeweller is known for dealing with hidden treasure articles in private.
When contacted on Wednesday, Varma said that he got all his gold biscuits and was happy. When asked about the IT officials' raid on his showroom after the incident, he confirmed the same and said that he has to pay a huge amount to the department.