Thieves robbed a US-based woman and stole all her cash, but were cheated out of the bigger loot because of their own ignorance of the value of the bag and diamond
A group of boys who robbed a US-based woman probably thought they had hit the jackpot when they saw the bundles of cash in her bag, worth about Rs 50,000 in total. But they'll be kicking themselves once they realise how many lakhs they threw down the drain, literally.
Runal Animish Nadgauda drops her husband at the international airport and starts heading towards Pune. Illustration/Uday Mohite
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Once they grabbed the money, the boys threw the bag — an original Louis Vuitton — in a drain. That bag alone was worth Rs 1.5 lakh, thrice the amount they had stolen. But they will probably feel even more stupid when they realise that in the bag was a diamond pendant worth even more – a whopping Rs 2.5 lakh.
Just as the car is opposite the Dharavi bus depot, she realises her phone is out of charge and asks the driver to buy her a charger from a local shop
The incident took place on July 2, when US resident Runal Animish Nadgauda (35) was passing through Dharavi. She realised her phone had run out charge and sent her driver to buy a charger. While she was alone in the car, three youngsters kept an eye on the Mercedes car, hoping to loot it.
Sitting in the backseat, she suddenly notices a towing van approaching. Fearing her Mercedes car could be towed away, she starts to climb from the backseat to the driver's seat
"While Nadgauda was moving to the driver's seat, one of the youngsters grabbed her bag from the back seat. She raised an alarm, and her driver Ajay even chased the accused for a while. Unfortunately, he managed to get away," said Senior Police Inspector Suryakant Bangar of Dharavi police station.
Three youngsters have their eye on the expensive car, waiting for a chance to loot it. While Nadgauda is changing seats, one of the youths grabs her bag from the backseat and flees with it
She called the women's helpline and cops rushed to the scene. Nadgauda, who lives in Missouri in the US and runs a jewellery shop there, informed the police that her bag alone was worth Rs 1.5 lakh, and it held several important documents and valuables, including a diamond pendant.
The crooks steal the cash in the bag (Rs 30,000 plus USD 200) but don't realise the value of the Louis Vuitton bag. They assume the diamond is fake and don't take that either. Instead they dumped the Rs 1.5 lakh bag and the Rs 2.5 lakh diamond into the ditch and run away
The police suspected that the accused may have thrown away the bag, unaware of its value. Indeed, they found the bag in a nearby nullah the next morning, with the diamond still inside. Investigations then led them to one of the accused, Joseph Nadar, who was picked up on July 7. During interrogations, he confessed to being an accomplice to the theft.
He also admitted they had no idea of the value of the bag, and had assumed that diamond was a fake. "Nadar revealed the names of the other two accused, who are currently touring Darjeeling with the stolen money. We have a launched a hunt for them," said Sub-Inspector Lonkar of Dharavi police station.
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