Hyderabad: In a major catch, the Hyderabad police Tuesday apprehended a jeweller and his two employees for reportedly attempting to smuggle gold ornaments to well-known jewellery stores in Bengaluru and Mysore.

Vaishnav Manoj Kumar (24) and Pradeep Agarwal (23), both employees of Raja Ram Jewels at Charkaman area in Charminar, were nabbed and gold ornaments weighing  15.239 kg and packed in various bags were found in their possession. 

Shalibanda police, who were checking vehicles at Aliabad in the Old City area, noticed a speeding auto that avoided them and proceeded towards Aramghar road. The police then passed on the information to the Chandrayangutta police, who intercepted the auto and the two persons in it. 

On questioning, the duo allegedly told that their employer Yashaswi Agarwal had asked them to deliver the ornaments at Joyalukkas in Mysuru and Malabar Joyalukkas in Bengaluru. Following their “confession”, the police nabbed Yashaswi, who also failed to produce any documents in support of possessing the gold.

Hyderabad police commissioner (in-charge) V V Srinivas Rao said, “Yashaswi told that the Joyalukkas has placed an order with him to manufacture the ornaments and he is delivering them the same. However, he failed to produce relevant documents to support his claims. The seized gold is worth over Rs 5 crore.”

However, the police could not extract information regarding the origin of the gold during preliminary probe and handed over the seized gold and the accused to the Income Tax department. 

The commissioner said, “The origin of the gold is yet to be identified. The seized ornaments and the accused are being handed over to the Income Tax department for further probe in the case.”

Meanwhile, sources in the police department said “Yashaswi has purchased raw-gold from ‘Swastik’ company and then made ornaments out of it based on the designs requested by the Joyalukkas.  It is suspected that the accused are doing the business without paying tax.”