Crime Branch and Bhedaghat Police succeeded in apprehending four accused involved in loot of jewellery with a goldsmith and retrieved looted gold and silver jewellery amounting to Rs 30 lakh from them. The arrested have been identified as Sanjay Vijay Soni (18), a resident of Tevar in Bhedaghat; Pappu alias Shekhar Ganesh Choudhary (23) of Panni Mohalla in Adhartal; Karan Prem Lal Bhat (21) of Bhantallaiyya in Hanumantal and Vinay Ram Bali Sahani (23), a resident of Hanumantal.

Superintendent of Police, Tusharkant Vidyarthi (IPS) disclosed this while addressing a press conference, on Friday. He informed that on May 11 night, a man named Om Prakash Soni (40), a resident of Tevar village lodged a complaint that he is owner of jewellery store Preeti Abhushan situated in Pand Ki Mariha. On May 11 night, he closed his shop and was on the way towards home on his motorcycle numbered MP-20MR-4549 in Tevar as per his routine. He was carrying cash of Rs 80,000 and gold and silver jewellery with him. He was passing through service road of highway when three unidentified men riding on a motorcycle arrived from rear and rammed into his motorcycle near Tevar pond. He fell down on the road when miscreants arrived and tried to escape with his motorcycle from the spot. He managed to catch one of the miscreants when another man attacked him with a knife and wounded his left palm and escaped with his motorcycle carrying cash and jewellery. Taking a serious note into the case, SP, T K Vidyarthi constituted a team under the supervision of Additional SP (Crime), Summer Verma, Additional SP (Rural), Shivesh Singh Baghel and CSP, Bargi, Ankita Khatarkar.

Investigating the case, police scanned the CCTV footages of several places and detained two of the suspected men named Pappu alias Shekhar Choudhary and Karan Bhat. In the interrogation, the accused broke out and confessed the loot incident. In further investigation, arrested disclosed that they planned the loot incident under the direction of Sanjay Soni, neighbor of appellant Omprakash Soni with the help of accomplices Vinay Sahani and Pawan Jaiswal. Looters informed that as per their planning, they looted the motorcycle along with cash and jewellery from Omprakash Soni and dumped the motorcycle at Sundaradehi road in Belkhera after keeping cash and jewellery and distributed the same amongst them. On their identification, police have arrested Sanjay Soni and Vinay Sahani and retrieved 305 grams gold and 12 kilogram silver jewellery amounting to Rs 30 lakh, cash of Rs 50,000 and a motorcycle from them.