Man robs employer of Rs 47-L jewellery to live life king size

Shop, travel, luxuriate — who doesn’t like spoiling themselves? Ashoksingh Gujratsingh Rajput alias Rathod, whose aspirations dwarfed his means, liked it enough to loot the jewellery store that employed him. He spent the spoils looking good and living large, spending recklessly for 10 days to indulge in leisure tours and branded clothes.u00a0

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Living it up: The police nabbed the accused Ashoksingh Rajput from Shikar hotel in Sanpada, Navi Mumbai, yesterday.u00a0

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The LT Marg police yesterday arrested Ashoksingh, an employee of Saigal Jewellers, Soni Bhuvan, Kalbadevi for making off with a stolen booty of Rs 47 lakh, and spending it to live the good life touring across the country to places like Goa, Mahabaleshwar, and Ooty. A native of Jodhpur in Rajasthan, he also went on a shopping spree, bought 2 Maruti Swift cars, branded clothes and a pair of shoes worth Rs 50,000.

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He splurged on Maruti Swift cars, clothes and a pair of shoes worth a whopping Rs 50,000u00a0

Cops said that Rajput wanted a pay hike but when the store owner did not pay heed to his demands, he cleaned out the shop.u00a0According to the police, Ashoksingh was appointed by the shop’s owner Rakesh Kanyalal Jain, who later handed the store to his relative Nirmal Toradia. Toradia handled the shop with his wife. “Ashoksingh was working with the shop for three years with Toradia,” said Avinash Sonawane, senior police inspector of L T Marg police station. u00a0While Ashoksingh wanted a pay hike, Toradia refused, provoking the accused to start stealing from the shop, cops said. But it wasn’t enough.u00a0

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The comebacku00a0

There was a dispute between Toradia and Ashoksingh over his salary, after which he left the job. “He tried working for a mobile shop owner in Navi Mumbai but failed, following which he joined Saigal jewellery store back on March 15,” said Sonawane.u00a0On March 15, the day Ashoksingh was supposed to rejoin, Toradia came to open the shop in the morning and found that jewellery worth Rs 47,49,000 was missing. He inquired if anybody had seen someone enter his shop and was told that Ashoksingh had opened it with a key and left the premises with a bag.u00a0Toradia lodged a complaint with L T Marg police who started looking for him. The police, on a tip-off, picked up Ashoksingh from Shikar hotel in Sanpada, Navi Mumbai.

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They learnt that he had fled to Goa, Ooty, Mahabaleshwar and several other tourist hotspots where he enjoyed his stay by selling the valuables. Officials also learnt that he bought two Maruti Swift cars, fancy shoes and clothes, and decorated his present flats on the ill-gotten gains.u00a0“We are in the process of recovering the valuables. We have recovered some gold and are presently assessing its value,” said Inspector Rashmi Jadhav of KLT Marg police station.