Ahmedabad, Aug 17 (IANS) A joint operation by Botad district and Ahmedabad Rural police led to the recovery of diamonds worth Rs 43.11 lakh within about seven hours of a theft at Botad’s Neelam Diamond Market, after investigators traced the suspects from CCTV footage to a local train and intercepted them at Bavla railway station.
Police said approximately 1,437 carats of finished diamonds were stolen from the office of diamond trader Ashokbhai Kankotiya at Neelam Shopping Centre on Sunday afternoon. Police subsequently apprehended three accused in Bavla and found a total of 1,885.75 carats of diamonds in their possession. Police said they are investigating the additional quantity.
The theft took place between 1:09 p.m. and 1:23 p.m. on August 16, when most shops in the complex were closed because of the Sunday holiday. According to the police, a woman dressed as a beggar entered the office through the rear entrance at around 1:09 p.m. and was captured on CCTV leaving 14 minutes later with a packet.
Kankotiya, 57, who deals in finished diamonds with his partner Rasikbhai, later reported that the lock of a table drawer had been opened and packets and bags containing around 1,437 carats of single finished diamonds had been taken.
The diamonds were valued at Rs 3,000 per carat, putting the total value of the stolen property at Rs 43,11,000.
A case was registered at Botad Town Police Station under Sections 305(a) and 331(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, at 9:47 p.m. on Sunday.
Investigators followed the suspect through CCTV footage and traced the autorickshaw she had travelled in.
The driver told police that he had dropped her near Khodiyarnagar, a settlement close to the railway tracks. By the time police reached the location, the suspected family had locked its hut and left.
Further questioning of another autorickshaw driver established that two women, two men and a child had been taken to Botad railway station at around 4:31 p.m. CCTV footage from the station, screened with the assistance of the Railway Protection Force, showed the suspects boarding the 5 p.m. Botad-Ahmedabad local train with luggage, cloth bundles and blue bags.
Police then used railway technical assistance to track the train in real time. The train had crossed Koth station and was heading towards Dholka and Bavla in Ahmedabad Rural district.
Once it became clear that the suspects were leaving Botad district, Botad Superintendent of Police Dharmendra Sharma contacted Ahmedabad Rural Superintendent of Police Omprakash Jat directly.
Ahmedabad Rural police immediately deployed teams at Bavla. Botad LCB Inspector G.M. Pavra shared live photographs and videos of the suspects, their clothing and other identifying features with Ahmedabad Rural LCB Inspector R.N. Karmatiya.
Details including the woman’s saffron kurti, leggings, red floral-patterned dupatta and limping gait, descriptions of the two men, blue bags and the likely train coach were relayed to field personnel through WhatsApp.
The Ahmedabad Rural teams then coordinated with the RPF to establish a cordon at Bavla railway station before the train arrived.
At around 8:30 p.m., when the Botad-Ahmedabad train entered Bavla station, police checked the coaches. The woman and two men matching the descriptions were seen getting off the second-to-last coach with bags and bundles and heading toward the exit.