123 Kolkata: Police have arrested a former employee of a well-known jewellery shop on Pretoria Street for allegedly stealing approximately 1.5 kg of jewellery valued at Rs 1.5 crore. The accused, Sashibhushan Shah, was apprehended along with an accomplice at Asansol railway station early on Thursday.
According cops, Sashibhushan, who was employed at the store for over a decade as a stock manager, suddenly left work citing his mother's illness. He subsequently failed to return or provide any account of the store's inventory despite repeated requests from his employers.
Store management became suspicious when they learned that Sashibhushan vacated his rented accommodation, relocated his family, and sold his bike. A subsequent audit revealed the substantial missing inventory, prompting the filing of a formal complaint under sections 316(4) and 61(2) of the BNS at the Shakespeare Sarani PS. The FIR was filed on Feb 22.
"Through both manual and technical surveillance, we tracked the accused to Ara, Bihar, and later intercepted him on the Vibhuti Express. We used CCTV footage and leads from relatives too," said an officer. The accused was travelling with his associate, Aniket Gupta, who has also been detained.
Sashibhushan was produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate and remanded to police custody till March 12.
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