Hyderabad’s Cyberabad Police on Wednesday swooped down on three Nepali nationals on charges of executing a multi-crore jewellery theft at a luxury villa in the Telangana capital. The accused had been employed as house-helps at the facility, from where they made away with jewellery and ornaments valued at crores of rupees. According to police, the incident took place in the upscale Gachibowli area of the city, and the accused were nabbed from Uttar Pradesh after an inter-state operation was set in motion.

Names of the accused

The police said the arrested accused have been identified as Kamal Shashi, his wife Vimal Shahi and another of their aides, Kalpana. Police officials aware of the incident said the trio was apprehended in UP’s Rampur district, and would soon be produced before a court. Later, they would be brought to Hyderabad on a transit warrant for further interrogation and probe.

Theft discovered in phases

Investigating police personnel said the incident first came to the family’s cognisance on June 7, when the elderly couple owning the house returned to their residence at Hill Ridge Villas and noticed that a gold chain adorning a small idol inside the house had gone missing.

Suspecting foul play, they raised an alarm with the police, following which a First Information Report (FIR) was registered and the cops mounted a probe.

The family was in for a shock the following day (June 8), when the couple’s son opened a locker inside the villa, only to realise that 1.5 kilograms of silver ornaments had also vanished. Raising concerns that the perpetrators had gained access to valuables stored within the property, the police formed numerous teams to hunt down the accused.

Interstate operation brings breakthrough

As part of the extensive manhunt, six police teams, including the city’s crime branch sleuths and the Special Operations Team (SOT) were dispatched to Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Bihar. The cops circulated the photographs of the accused to the police units across the states, and a specialised team tasked with tracking criminal networks involving Nepali gangs had also been roped into the operation.

On June 9, Gachibowli Detective Inspector Naresh and his team achieved the breakthrough by tracking down and nabbing all the three accused in the Udhampur area of Rampur district. Police said the stolen valuables were intact and were seized from their possession.

Key left near locker used to access ornaments

During interrogation, the accused confessed that they gained access to the valuables by means of a key that had been kept near the locker. The cops said the accused carefully relocked the locker after making away with the jewellery, and also took the key with them to evade detection.