Kanpur: An MCA graduate allegedly stole 30 kg of silver worth Rs 75 lakh and Rs 75,000 in cash from a bullion trader’s house to repay debts accumulated through gambling and online betting. Kanpur police have arrested Sudhanshu Agrawal, 28, and recovered around 24 kg of silver buried at different locations in Nana Rao Park. Efforts are on to trace the remaining silver and cash.DCP East Satyajit Gupta said Agrawal was arrested in Phalmandi on Sunday evening. According to police, he had accumulated a gambling and online betting debt of Rs 10 lakh and planned the theft to repay it.Bullion trader Kishore Singh, a resident of Chatai Mohal in Pheelkhana, owns Priyanka Jewellers in Chowk Sarafa. He told police that he had brought the silver and cash home from his shop around 8.30 pm on Sept 12.The theft came to light around 9.30 pm on Sept 18 when Singh’s son, Abhay, moved a wooden plank near a ground-floor cupboard and found it open. The silver and cash were missing. The family informed police through Dial-112.Police examined footage from four CCTV cameras in the lane and others in the surrounding area. Footage from Sept 15 showed a man carrying a bag near Singh’s house and later leaving with it on his shoulder, though his face was not clearly visible.Questioning of locals led police to suspect Agrawal, whose house is about 500 metres from Singh’s home. Police said their suspicion deepened after learning that he had approached a court five days before his arrest to ascertain whether he was wanted in any case. The court had forwarded his application to police for an inquiry.Police said Agrawal had started working at a company in Kalyanpur after completing his MCA and had gradually accumulated debt through online betting. Investigators are trying to identify the app or website he used and the people who lent him money.Police are also investigating the whereabouts of the remaining silver and cash.Singh said he did not usually keep his shop’s jewellery and cash at home. His family lives on the upper floors of their three-storey house, while the ground floor remains vacant. The cupboard key had been left in the room, and the main gate and room were open.
