Jewellery worker who decamped with gold worth Rs 5-cr held

Paresh Rawat was nabbed from a hotel at Morjim Beach in Goa on Tuesday, police said. The mastermind behind the crime is still absconding.

"Three kgs of gold bars were recovered from him and we are hoping to recover the rest from his accomplice who is at large," a senior crime branch official said.

While on the run, Rawat had also got shelter in Pune, police said.

Rawat, who worked at Devkrupa Jewellers in South Mumbai, received the 23-kg gold consignment from a customer in Delhi and boarded the August Kranti Express from there on December 7, but did not return here the next day, police said.

His employer Nathalal Gandhi lodged a complaint against the worker after his attempts to contact Rawat on his mobile phone failed as it was switched off.

Rawat had been hired by Gandhi seven months ago on recommendation by his cousins, who have been working in the same unit for years.

He had ferried several huge consignments, gaining the trust of his employer, police said.