Chinese diamond thieves nabbed at airport
Mumbai police have recovered a 5.43 carat diamond worth Rs 34 lakh which was stolen from India International Jewellery Show (IIJS), on Monday. Two Chinese nationals were arrested at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) on Monday evening for the theft.
The city police are investigating whether both the Chinese nationals, Chiang Chang Kwing and Deng Xiabo, are members of an international gang of diamond thieves.
“Both the Chinese nationals landed in India on Sunday. They came to Mumbai’s exhibition hall on Monday at 3 pm. At the time of seeing the diamond at IIJS, both the accused cleverly replaced 5.43 carat diamond with a replica at the stall of Ratilal and Sons, and left the premises at 3:30pm to catch a flight for Japan’s Osaka city. The stall attendant noticed the replica and alerted the security agencies. Later the case of theft and cheating was registered complained at Vanrai police station,” said Rajesh Pradhan, additional commissioner of police (North region).
The police studied the footage on Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in which they saw the activities of both the Chinese nationals. The grab of the CCTV footage was circulated at the airport officials, immigration department as well as Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) deployed at CSIA, Mumbai.
Both the accused had cleared the immigration to board an Air India flight for Japan via Hong Kong. But the CISF officials detained them just minutes before they boarded the flight and handed them over to Mumbai police.
The Chinese consulate has been informed about their arrest.
“During the search operation we successfully recovered the stolen diamond which they concealed in a 5 ml shampoo bottle. We have also confiscated their passports, three mobile phones, two more fake diamonds and one magnifying glass from their possession,” said Pradhan.
He further added that it was difficult to communicate with both the foreign nationals as they were only speaking in Mandarin. “We had to call one Chinese interpreter to communicate with both the accused,” said Pradhan, who refused to divulge details despite interrogating Chinese nationals for around seven hours with the help of an interpreter.
However, on Tuesday they were produced before court that has sent them in judicial custody till August 14. Further investigations are underway.