Rajkot/Ahmedabad, Feb 8 The Ahmedabad Crime Branch has recovered 40 kg of silver and arrested one person in connection with a major silver theft in Gujarat's Rajkot, in which nearly 120 kg of silver was stolen, officials said on Sunday.
The theft was reported on February 4 from the Champak Nagar area of Rajkot.
According to the police, unidentified persons allegedly broke into a residential premises in the early hours of Sunday and stole silver worth more than Rs 1 crore.
Officials said the suspects arrived in a four-wheeler between 2 and 2:30 a.m. and targeted the house of Bipin, who is known to a local trader, Atul Patel.
After the incident came to light, Bipin informed Patel, following which the police were alerted and an investigation was launched.
The CCTV footage from the surrounding areas was examined to identify the suspects.
During the course of the probe, the city Crime Branch received specific intelligence suggesting that a portion of the stolen silver was being transported to Mehsana for sale.
Acting on this information, a Crime Branch team conducted a targeted operation and seized 40 kg of silver.
One accused, identified as Pradeep Prajapati, was arrested in connection with the case.
Officials confirmed that the recovered silver forms part of the consignment stolen from Rajkot.
The second accused, identified as Mukesh Prajapati, remains absconding and is suspected to be in possession of the remaining stolen silver.
"As per the initial investigation, we nabbed Pradeep with stolen valuables. Currently, the formalities are going on. Another accused, who was seen in the CCTV is absconding, and we are trying to trace him. There is a possibility that the agents who were going to buy or other accused can surface," an official told IANS.
Preliminary findings indicate that the theft was carried out with prior planning and involved more than one person.
Police said teams have been deployed in Surat and Vadodara to trace and arrest the absconding accused.
Further investigation is underway to recover the remaining 80 kg of silver and to identify others who may be linked to the offence.
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