The Govandi police have arrested two brothers for stealing around ₹45 lakh in cash from a chartered accountant who had gone to visit his daughter-in-law at a hospital in Govandi. The arrested accused have been identified as Nitesh Ramvilas Mahanto and Deepak Kumar Ramvilas Mahanto, both residents of Bihar. Police have recovered ₹36.35 lakh in stolen cash from their possession. Their third brother, Rahul kumar Ramvilas Mahanto, is still absconding.
According to the police, the complainant, a resident of Wadala and a practising chartered accountant, had employed Nitesh as his car driver for the past eight months. Gaining his employer’s trust through honest work, Nitesh later recommended his cousin Rahul—who was unemployed—for a job. The complainant hired Rahul as a peon at his office.
The chartered accountant was holding ₹45 lakh in cash for stamp duty purposes, which he had earlier handed over to a friend in Andheri for safekeeping. On 19 September, while he was at New Cuffe Parade with Nitesh, he met his friend and collected the cash. Later that evening, he went to Govandi to see his newborn granddaughter at a hospital, leaving Nitesh in the car with the money. He specifically instructed him to watch over the cash.
However, when the complainant returned, Nitesh was missing. Attempts to call both Nitesh and Rahul failed as their phones were switched off. The two, along with Deepak, fled with the entire cash amount—comprising ₹500 and ₹100 denomination notes worth ₹45 lakh.
A complaint was lodged at Govandi police station, and an FIR for theft was registered against the accused. Since all three were originally from Bihar, police suspected they had fled to their hometown. Special teams were dispatched to Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Acting on technical surveillance, officers tracked Nitesh and Deepak travelling in a private vehicle in Bihar. After six days of monitoring, both were detained.
During interrogation, Nitesh confessed to the theft. Police subsequently recovered ₹36.35 lakh from the accused. Both were brought to Mumbai and remanded to police custody for further investigation.
Meanwhile, efforts are on to trace the absconding accused Rahul.