Navi Mumbai: A 20-year-old Class XI dropout was arrested for allegedly stealing gold and cash worth Rs 18 lakh from his Kharghar residence to fund his lavish lifestyle that included hiring a high-end SUV to impress his friends.Kharghar police API Sharad Barkade said they apprehended the accused, Shravan Mandhare, from CBD-Belapur area in the wee hours of Friday, within four hours of FIR registration.Shravan lives with his parents and younger brother in Mahavir Heritage society of Kharghar Sector 35. His father is the chairman of a credit society.In her police complaint, the mother said on March 30, she had locked the cupboard locker in which she had kept her gold ornaments weighing 165gm and Rs 1.5 lakh cash. Barkade said: “On April 4, when she opened the locker to remove cash to pay the milkman’s monthly bill, she was shocked to find the gold and cash missing. She enquired with her elder son about the missing valuables, but he gave evasive replies and left home. When Shravan did not return home for five days and did not take her calls, the mother filed a theft complaint against him on Thursday around 8pm.“Barkade added, “After we registered the FIR, we tracked Shravan’s mobile tower location and apprehended him from CBD-Belapur area within four hours.” During questioning, he allegedly confessed to stealing the gold and cash.“We recovered only Rs 20,000 of the Rs 1.5 lakh cash; he said he spent the rest of the money to pay for his hotel bills. He further said that he gave the gold ornaments to an acquaintance to sell them and get cash. Once identified, we will arrest the acquaintance too,” Barkade said.Police have obtained Shravan’s police custody remand from a Panvel court till April 13.
