Gold theft accused held from Mumbai after 18 yrs

Kochi: After 18 years, Muvattupuzha police nabbed a person who had absconded with 240g of gold from a jewellery store and Rs 1.5 lakh by cheating another individual. The special investigation team arrested Mahindra Hashba Yadav (53) from Mulund Link Road in Mumbai on Wednesday."Yadav, who was living in Mumbai as a jewellery store owner, was arrested in a challenging early morning operation," said a police officer.Polic said the incident happened in 2006. Yadav, hailing from a traditional goldsmith family, was working as a goldsmith at the jewellery store at Muvattupuzha was living in the area with his family. He took 240g of gold from the store under the pretext of purifying it and also collected Rs 1.5 lakh from a friend before fleeing with his family.The case was reopened and reinvestigated using modern scientific and technological methods, under the supervision of district police chief Vaibhav Saxena, police said. The investigation team included Muvattupuzha DSP P M Baiju, inspector Basil Thomas, and sub-inspector Mahin Salim. He was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.