Jewellery salesmen staged their own robbery

Rajkot: Two salesmen of Kala Gold, an Ahmedabad jewellery company — Yagnik Joshi (33) and Dhanraj Bhangde (51) — along with Yagnik's brother Mohit Joshi (30), devised a plan like a crime web series to steal jewellery and cash worth Rs 1.90 crore from their employer. The salesmen staged their own robbery near Bantva in Junagadh district last week.Police arrested the three after a thorough investigation. Yagnik and Dhanraj were responsible for showing jewellery samples to jewellers in various parts of the state and taking orders. On the Thursday night, Yagnik told police that they had been robbed at knifepoint by three unknown men while returning from Kutiyana in Porbandar district after meeting some jewellers. The incident purportedly took place on the Bantva-Pajod road, 8km from Bantva, when their car got a puncture.Police took immediate action by blocking entry and exit points to the district, alerting neighbouring districts, and interrogating those with criminal histories. During technical surveillance, they discovered that a person from another district, later found to be Mohit Joshi, was in contact with Yagnik. A team was sent to Ahmedabad to trace and interrogate Mohit, who initially denied any involvement but later confessed to the conspiracy."The two employees hatched a plan to steal the jewellery and cash, worth Rs 1.90 crore, from their employer," said Harshad Mehta, superintendent of police, Junagadh district. A team of 100 police personnel, including Mehta, stayed at a community wedding facility in Bantva to investigate the case.