Solving Crime: A pair of trousers, a fake Aadhaar helped Mumbai police solve a Rs 30 lakh jewellery theft

Through a common friend, he got a job at Jain’s residence on October 30, 2018, and when asked to submit his Aadhaar card on the first day, he handed the fake one to his employer. Two days later, he stole the gold jewellery from Jain’s house. The businessman had approached the Gamdevi police station and a case under Section 381 (theft by a servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered.

Investigators initially believed that tracing Yadav will be an easy job after Jain gave them his Aadhaar card. However, they soon realised the government document submitted by Yadav was fake. “We knew the person who had stolen the jewellery but we had no clue on the suspect. We then decided to revisit the spot. We inspected the whole house and when we thoroughly checked the room in which he stayed, we found a trouser,” said a police officer.

The investigators cross-checked with Jain and others at his house whether the trouser belonged to anyone, and when they said no, the police started working on that lead. “Through the label on the trouser, we managed to locate its tailor in Khar. We inquired with him and after going through his notes, the tailor found his name and number. He also had his Jharkhand’s address and the agency through which he was trying to get a job,” added the officer.

The police then contacted the agency which told them Yadav had called them recently asking for a job. The agency told them he had called through his friend’s mobile number and also gave the police his photograph. “When we asked them about his location, they told us that Yadav had told them that he is going to catch a train to Jharkhand. The agency also helped us with the number on which Yadav had asked them to contact if anything came up,” said another officer.

The police then laid a trap at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus on November 5, 2018. However, they could not find him as Yadav had entered the train five minutes before departure. As the next step, the police started checking his location through the friend’s phone number after they were confident that he had taken that particular train and was travelling to Jharkhand.

“We contacted the Government Railway Police (GRP) officials at the Koderma railway station and forwarded his picture and details, who then got hold of him as soon as he alighted the train,” said another investigator.

A team sent to Jharkhand brought Yadav back to Mumbai on transit remand. Yadav was placed under arrest on November 8, 2018, and the police also recovered the stolen jewellery from him.