Pune: After a 10,000-km chase across Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Khadak police arrested four suspects on Thursday and Friday, including a jeweller’s employee accused of fleeing with cash and ornaments worth Rs 28 lakh.The arrests marked the end of a 25-day manhunt during which police tracked the accused across multiple locations in the two states. Valuables worth Rs 26.33 lakh were recovered during the operation.About a month ago, jeweller Jitendra Rishikesh Singh lodged a complaint with Khadak police, alleging that his employee, Vishal Satyapal Chauhan (20), had disappeared with a bag containing Rs 28 lakh in cash and gold and silver ornaments meant for delivery to the firm’s Mumbai office. Instead of reaching Mumbai, Chauhan allegedly fled with the bag midway.Police said tracking Chauhan proved difficult as he frequently changed locations and moved between his native place in Etah and relatives’ houses across Uttar Pradesh.Deputy commissioner of police (Zone I) Krushikesh Rawale told TOI, “During the investigation, we found that Vishal had not acted alone. His brother, Binesh, friends Vikas Kumar Jadhon and Radheshyam alias Piku Chauhan, and brother-in-law Brijesh Surendrasinh Chauhan were also involved in the crime.”Khadak police formed a special team comprising assistant inspector Prasanna Jarhad and constables Vinod Shinde, Hemant Perne, Mayur Bhosale, Saif Nadaf, Nilesh Sable and Vikas Pandule. Senior inspector Dhananjay Pingle monitored the operation.Acting on technical analysis, local intelligence and inputs from local police, the team conducted searches in Etah, Kasganj and Gautam Buddha Nagar districts of Uttar Pradesh, and in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The suspects, who were hiding at different locations, were eventually tracked down and arrested.Police seized two gold bars worth Rs 16.8 lakh from Vikas Kumar Jadhon’s house and recovered Rs 7 lakh in cash, a gold ring and a silver chain from the residence of Brijesh Surendrasinh Chauhan, Binesh Chauhan’s brother-in-law. In all, valuables worth Rs 26.33 lakh have been recovered so far, and efforts are under way to trace the remaining property.Rawale said, “Vishal had joined the jewellery firm a year ago as a courier. He was responsible for delivering gold ornaments and cash to Mumbai for jewellery manufacturing work. Vishal and his brother allegedly conspired to commit the theft after the latter accumulated debts of nearly Rs 15 lakh.”
