Mumbai: Mumbai Police has successfully cracked the high-profile daylight robbery at Rishabh Jewellers in the Saat Rasta area of Mahalaxmi, near Arthur Road Jail on December 29, where crores worth of jewellery was looted at gunpoint.
The Crime Branch arrested one of the accused Vinod Lakhan Pal (28) from Madhya Pradesh, While Santosh Laltaprasad Balkia (28) has arrested by Agripada Police from Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. Both suspects hail from Uttar Pradesh, but after the robbery, Pal fled to Simrabhatta village in Niwari district, Madhya Pradesh.
According to Police, Meticulous Planning and Execution Investigations revealed that before targeting Rishabh Jewellers, the accused conducted reconnaissance at two-three other jewellery shops located in Saat Rasta but abandoned those due to heavy footfall. They finalized their plan five days before the heist.
According to senior officials, accused Santosh, a resident of the Saat Rasta area for several years, called his old friend Vinod Pal to Mumbai for the robbery. On December 29, the duo surveyed three-four jewellery shops in the area.
They eventually chose Rishabh Jewellers, where only two staff members were present, considering it an easier target. Posing as customers, they entered the shop under the guise of buying gold ring jewellery and carried out the robbery before fleeing.
Escape Route and Arrests: After the heist, the accused took a taxi to Thane, then switched to an auto-rickshaw to reach the Bhiwandi bypass, followed by a shared taxi to Nashik’s Dwarka Circle. From there, they traveled to Bhusawal by a private vehicle and boarded a train to Bhopal.
Mumbai Police examined over 100-150 CCTV cameras to trace the suspects’ movements, eventually locating them near the Madhya Pradesh-Uttar Pradesh border. Five teams, including local police and the Crime Branch, were deployed across Niwari, Datia, and Tikamgarh districts in MP, and Jhansi and Lalitpur districts in UP.
Pal was found hiding in a haystack on a relative’s farm in a village in Niwari, where he was apprehended by the Crime Branch Unit 3. Meanwhile, Agripada Police tracked and arrested Santosh Balkia in Jhansi.
Initially 50 percent gold and silver recovered from Santosh. After robbery took place, Santosh and vinod distributed jwellery 50 percent respectively. Further investigations are underway to recover the stolen jewellery and verify if the duo is involved in other similar crimes.
Based on this information, the Crime Branch formed five teams to track accused. During an intensive search, the teams covered districts like Niwari, Datia, and Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh, and Jhansi and Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh.
The investigation confirmed that Vinod Pal was hiding in a remote village, Simrafata, at a relative’s farm. Despite the area’s challenging terrain, Crime Branch Unit 3 officers conducted a two-hour operation to apprehend Pal, who was found concealed in a haystack on the property.
Vinod Pal had a prior arrest record with Bijawar Police Station in Madhya Pradesh in 2024 for a home dacoity case involving three other individuals. He was released on bail in September 2024.
Agripada Police arrested Santosh from Uttar Pradesh, marking his first known criminal offense. Investigations are ongoing to gather additional details and recover the stolen property.
