Udupi Police Bust Interstate Gang, Recover Gold Jewellery Worth Rs 87.4 Lakh

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi, Sept. 21, 2025: In a major crackdown on interstate crime, Udupi Town police, in coordination with Maharashtra police, have arrested five accused in a gold jewellery theft case. The gang allegedly stole jewellery worth nearly Rs 95 lakh from a Udupi shop, and police recovered assets valued at Rs 87.4 lakh, including gold, silver, cash, and the vehicle used in the crime.

According to the complainant, Vaibhav Mohan Ghatge, he had closed his shop on Sept 8 around 10 pm. The next morning, he discovered that unknown thieves had used a key to unlock the premises and stolen gold jewellery worth approximately Rs 95.7 lakh, which had been placed in a refinery machine the previous night.

A case was registered at Udupi Town police station under Sections 331(4), 331(3), and 305 BNS.

Udupi SP Hariram Shankar said a special team led by Udupi Town police inspector Manjunath V. Badiger, along with PSIs Bharatesh Kankanawadi, Tejaswi TI (Kapu PS), Vinaykumar K (Kollur PS), and other staff, coordinated with personnel from Akluj police station, Maharashtra, including SR Madubavi, VB Ghatge, and VA Sate, to track and apprehend the accused.

The five arrested in Nimgaon, Malshiras taluk, Solapur district, Maharashtra, are Shubham Tanaji Sathe (25), Praveen Appa Sathe (23), Nilesh Bapu Kasturi (19), Sagar Dattatreya Kandagale (32), and Bagav Rohit Shrimant (25), all from Solapur.

Police recovered assets worth Rs 87.4 lakh from the accused, including 748.8 grams of gold (approx. Rs 74.8 lakh), 4.4 kg of silver (approx. Rs 3.6 lakh), Rs 5 lakh in cash, and a car used in the crime valued at Rs 4 lakh.