We came to visit Taj Mahal,absconding Venezuelan main culprit: jewel thieves

The four foreign nationals arrested from Dubai in connection with the Rs 6.6-crore diamond heist in Mumbai on August 23 have now claimed they had come to India to visit the Taj Mahal.

The four foreign nationals arrested from Dubai in connection with the Rs 6.6-crore diamond heist in Mumbai on August 23 have now claimed they had come to India to visit the Taj Mahal. Police sources have also revealed that in an alleged attempt to mislead investigators,the accused have also claimed that Perez Hender Valmore,their alleged Venezuelan accomplice believed to have fled to Johannesburg following the heist,had met them in the city for the first time and roped them into the crime.

They are now making up all sorts of stories in an attempt to place the entire blame on the one accused who managed to evade arrest. As a part of this ruse,they have also claimed that they came to India only to visit the Taj Mahal. However,they cannot explain how or why they ended up in Mumbai. They have also stated that they did not know Valmore,and they first ran into him at a food festival at the Westin Hotel in Goregaon where they were staying. Valmore,incidentally,was staying at the J W Mariott Hotel, said a senior officer,who did not wish to be named. Sources in the Mumbai Police Crime Branch also said that the four passports recovered from the accused appear to be have been fraudulently obtained by them.

We have written to the Mexican and Venezuelan embassies,as we suspect the passports to be genuine but obtained fraudulently. We are awaiting verification of the addresses mentioned in the passports. Besides,we have also written to the Interpol wing of the CBI asking them to verify the address in Rome to which Valmore was attempting to courier the stolen diamonds,and find out who resides at the given address, said an officer.

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Three Mexicans and a Venezuelan who were detained by the Dubai Police for their alleged role in the heist were brought to Mumbai by a Crime Branch team early on August 26.The arrested accused have been identified as Guerrero Lugo Elvia Grissel (24),Campos Molan Elias (39),Gonzalez Maldonado Mauricio (24) all three of whom are Mexicans,and a Venezuelan identified as Gutierez Orlando. Grissel,who claims to be a nurse,and Orlando have told the police that they are a married couple. All four are in police custody till September 4.

According to the Crime Branch,the five accused had converged in the city on flights originating from different cities. They are suspected to be involved in other heists in India and abroad,and are being interrogated accordingly.

The Crime Branch has recovered 245 diamond pieces from the four arrested accused,while the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has recovered another 1641 pieces that Valmore was attempting to courier to Rome.

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