Mumbai: A delivery boy employed with a jewellery manufacturing unit in Andheri MIDC, Avinash Kadam (26), has been arrested for allegedly staging a road accident so that his accomplice could make off with ornaments worth nearly Rs 60.7 lakh on June 6.Police have also arrested his associate, Manoj Jogdande (41), and recovered the entire stolen property from him — some of the jewellery was reportedly concealed in the boot of his scooter, some on the roof of his residence, and the remaining inside a flowerpot.MIDC police said Kadam had tried to mislead them by insisting on staying in hospital for three days and pressuring the medical staff to conduct tests to support his claim that he had suffered internal injuries and lost consciousness when his two-wheeler collided with a parked tempo near Bhangargalli. “But investigators concluded that the accident was staged after reviewing CCTV footage of the spot and recording eyewitnesses statements,” said a police officer.On June 6, Kadam was instructed to deliver jewellery to a client barely a kilometre from his workplace, Gold Star Elite Jewellers. When he did not reach the destination, his employer called him, but a man who claimed to be Kadam’s friend answered the phone and said that he had been taken to Kamgar Hospital as he had met with an accident. When his employer checked on Kadam’s condition, doctors said he was stable and had no visible injuries.Kadam allegedly told his employer when he was delivering the jewellery, he felt dizzy and his two-wheeler collided with a parked tempo parked near Bhangargalli and he fell unconscious. He claimed that he did not know what happened to the bag of jewellery.Following a complaint by the inventory head of Gold Star Elite Jewellers, Kanchan Pawar (46), DCP Datta Nalawade set up an investigation team comprising ACP Gajanan Pawar, senior inspector Ravindra Wani, inspector Mahesh Gurav, sub-inspector Kiran Parbat and staff to find the missing jewellery.After reviewing numerous CCTV clips from the area, the team concluded that Kadam had staged the accident.Police first tracked down Jogdande using CCTV footage. He was identified via the criminal database, as he had previously been arrested in cheating cases. “During questioning, Jogdande confessed that Kadam and he were friends and had conspired to steal the jewellery,” said the police officer.
