A police officer on patrol caught a 20-year-old man selling gold bullion at a pawn shop, leading to the Halasuru Police unveiling a theft worth Rs 1.3 crore at the house of a relative of Bollywood actor Boman Irani in Bengaluru. The bullion was stolen from Khursheed Irani's residence in Embassy Crown Park Apartment, located on Aga Abbas Ali Road, a few weeks ago. The theft came to light on November 29, however, the police arrested the prime accused, Mary, the domestic worker at Khursheed Irani's residence on Monday, The Hindu reported.
Khursheed Irani opened the locker in her home on November 29 and found that cash both in INR and foreign currency along with gold bullion was missing from the safe. Irani approached the Halasuru Police and filed a complaint. An FIR was registered against unknown persons for theft.
Micheal Vincent is the son of Mary, the domestic worker, who was employed at Khursheed Irani's residence for the last 28 years. Micheal allegedly forced his mother to steal from her employers to fund his online gambling activities.
On December 2, D Kumar, Assistant Commissioner of Police was on patrol when he received a tip-off that gold bullion was being sold at a jewellery shop in Nagavarapalya. Kumar, who was in the vicinity, went to the shop and questioned Micheal Vincent regarding the gold. He allegedly told the police that his mother had given him the gold and asked him to pawn it, Deccan Herald reported. Kumar recovered two gold bars worth Rs 10 lakh from Micheal and took him into custody for questioning.
A team of police officers went to Micheal's residence and went to detain Mary at her residence in KG Halli but she had absconded. On Monday, Mary was arrested after which she allegedly confessed to stealing eight gold bars weighing 100 gm each, $15,000 (worth around Rs 11 lakh) and Rs 35 lakh cash.
Investigation revealed that Micheal Vincent was in deep debt of lakhs of rupees due to his online gambling activities. He allegedly bet on IPL matches and lost money, after which he began pressuring his mother to steal from her employers to pay off his debts.
Micheal and Mary have been sent to judicial custody after they were produced before the magistrate. The Halasuru Police recovered the gold and cash upon their arrest.