Man steals fiancee’s jewellery, replaces gold bar with fake one

A 30-year-old man was arrested for stealing his fiancee’s jewellery and replacing 1 kg gold bar with a fake one, the police said on Thursday.

On July 29, the woman lodged a complaint against her fiancé, Nitesh Verma. In the complaint, she alleged that after their engagement, several gold and silver items, including 3 gold sets, 4 diamond sets, rings, bangles, a kada and gold and silver coins, went missing from her residence.

At that time, suspicion fell on Verma. As no concrete evidence surfaced, he denied involvement and the matter remained unresolved.

The complainant entrusted him with a one kg ancestral gold bar to be used for marriage expenses. Later, she discovered that the bar had been replaced with a fake one.

When confronted, Verma admitted that he had exchanged the genuine gold bar with a fake one and also confessed to his earlier involvement in thefts from her house. When the complainant threatened to approach the police, he promised to return the money equivalent to the gold bar and jewellery within a week. He, however, absconded with the gold, switched off his mobile phone and went into hiding, the police said. Based on the complaint, another case was registered at the DBG road police station and hunt was launched to nab Verma.

Following technical surveillance, the accused was traced to Kaushambi, Ghaziabad (UP), and was arrested on September 2.

During interrogation, the accused confessed to the thefts and revealed that he had deceitfully replaced the gold bar when he was alone at the complainant’s house. The accused also admitted that he cut the bar into smaller pieces and sold them at different locations.

With the money, he purchased a plot worth Rs 42 lakh in Dehradun, gave Rs 70-80 lakh to his parents, who later purchased plots in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, and Delhi, acquired property in Haridwar and Mussoorie and splurged on luxury hotel stays in Mussoorie and Kerala.