Palghar, May 7 (PTI) Police have cracked a major theft case in which jewellery worth Rs 33 lakh was stolen from a house at Virar in Maharashtra's Palghar district by arresting two persons, an official said on Tuesday.

The accused, Sonu Sheikh (43) and Motilal Soni, were arrested from Thane city, deputy commissioner of police, Virar (zone-III) Jayant Bajbale said, adding stolen jewellery worth Rs 27.65 lakh was recovered from their possession.

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Thieves had entered the house at Dongarpada in Virar during the intervening night of April 24- 25, and made way with 470 gm of jewellery worth Rs 33 lakh when the family members were away. The Virar police had registered an FIR under sections 380 (theft), 454 (house breaking) and 457 (tress-passing to commit offence) of the Indian Penal Code on the basis of a complaint.

Working on various leads, including CCTV footage, technical and intelligence inputs, the probe team zeroed in on the main accused, Sheikh, said senior police inspector Vijay Pawar.

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After getting a tip-off that the accused was staying in the Vasant Vihar locality, police laid a trap on April 27 and nabbed him from Manpada.

During interrogation, he told the police he had sold the stolen ornaments to one Motilal Soni, who sits outside jewellers' shops and deals with old and imitation jewellery. Police traced Soni and arrested him the same day, said the official.

The police said the main accused Sheikh was a habitual offender and facing a number of criminal cases at various police stations in Mumbai and Thane.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)