Two from Bihar held in Miraj for stealing gold from bangles on the pretext of polishing them

Miraj: Miraj city police have arrested two suspects from Bihar, aged 27 and 36 and from Khagaria district, accused of stripping gold from an elderly woman's bangles on the pretext of polishing her brassware and jewellery. Police seized a lump of gold worth about ₹3 lakh, the two-wheeler used in the crime and the chemical used to dissolve gold, together worth about ₹3.5 lakh.

According to police, two strangers came to the home of a 64-year-old woman in Miraj's Brahmanpuri area at about 9.45 am on September 17. Claiming to sell powder for polishing utensils, they won her trust and offered to shine her bangles as well. When she handed over two bangles weighing 60 g, they boiled them in water mixed with a yellow chemical, told her not to wear them right away and left, taking the water and the vessel with them.

When the bangles felt lighter, the woman had them weighed at a jeweller, who found they had dropped from 60.070 g to 41.684 g. About 18.386 g of gold had been removed through the chemical process, and a case was registered at Miraj city police station.

A crime detection team under police inspector Kiran Chougale examined footage from 30 CCTV cameras in the city. After learning that the suspects had come to the Station Chowk area, police laid a trap and detained them. A court has remanded them in police custody for three days. Police said the gang may have committed similar crimes elsewhere and they are looking for its other members.

Sources: Loksatta; Pudhari