Ahmedabad Crime Branch on Saturday arrested two women in connection with the theft of gold jewellery valued at over ₹2 crore from a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) woman. The recovered items included gold coins, bangles, and a necklace.
The accused, 28-year-old Ramilaben Parmar from Wadaj and 34-year-old Sarla Ganwa from Nirmalnagar, both originally from Dahod district, allegedly targeted passengers on crowded BRTS and AMTS buses. According to police officials, the women carried small children to avoid suspicion and pretended to be daily wage labourers during the thefts.
The victim, Saryuben, who resides in the United States, had come to Gujarat with her family to attend a religious event at the Dada Bhagwan Trimandir in Adalaj. She was carrying heirloom gold jewellery intended for design work for her son and daughter-in-law when the items were stolen during a bus journey.
A complaint was filed at Satellite Police Station under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. A senior Crime Branch officer stated that based on investigation and intelligence inputs, the suspects were identified and arrested within hours. All the stolen jewellery was recovered.
The recovered items included six gold coins weighing 102.5 grams from AB Jewels, a gold bangle worth ₹23 lakh, and a gold necklace valued at ₹15 lakh, with a total estimated worth of ₹2.02 crore. Police are investigating whether the accused were involved in similar thefts elsewhere in Ahmedabad.
In a related case reported in December, Sunanda Malusare, an NRI living in the UK, filed a complaint in Vadodara after her purse containing ₹71 lakh in cash and jewellery was stolen during shopping.
Last November, Ahmedabad Police conducted a raid on a fake call centre involved in defrauding NRIs through bogus medicine schemes, resulting in the arrest of 24 people.