The mastermind of the Rs 27-lakh gold heist, who had been absconding for 18 months, was finally arrested, Matunga police said on Thursday. The 32-year-old accused had transformed himself into an entirely different person by growing a beard, changing his attire, altering his mannerisms and moving across towns in North India, while also staying off mobile phones to remain untraceable. Despite his elaborate planning, sustained technical tracking and human intelligence eventually led to his capture.

On the night of December 17, 2023, a gang allegedly intercepted a taxi near Dadar and snatched a red bag containing gold filings worth Rs 27 lakh. According to the police, the complainant and victim is a manager of a jewellery manufacturing firm and he was bringing gold dust and filings from the company’s West Bengal unit to Mumbai for processing. The manager was joined by two colleagues and together they boarded a taxi for Lower Parel. As their taxi reached near Ramee Hotel on Swami Jagjivan Das Road in Dadar East, a group of 5–6 men intercepted the vehicle. One man pretended to fall in front of the car, forcing the driver to stop, while others surrounded the taxi. The gang hurled abuses, assaulted the manager and his colleagues and during the scuffle, forcibly snatched the red bag. The manager was also punched in the chest as he tried to resist.

The manager immediately approached Matunga police, registered an FIR and shortly after they swung into action. Police scanned 200 CCTV camera footage from the area and within three days, they arrested seven accused linked to the dacoity. From them, they recovered part of the stolen loot which was Rs 2 lakh cash, 126.2 grams of gold ornaments and 6.1 kg of casting gold and filings.

However, the main accused and mastermind managed to slip away and had been on the run since. His identity was discovered by the police as Nilesh Akhilesh Srivastava.

For the next 18 months, Srivastava proved elusive. According to police, he kept changing hideouts, moved across different towns in North India, and disguised himself by growing a beard and altering his appearance. He deliberately kept his phone switched off to evade electronic tracking. He would use different mobile phones to contact his family and after every phone call, he would destroy the SIM card making it difficult to track him down, police officials said. However, the police team maintained surveillance, not only on the accused, but also on certain family members, who police suspected were helping him stay updated. Surveillance on one such family member helped the police trace Srivastava’s movements and he ended up falling into a trap earlier this week. The team finally succeeded in locating and arresting Srivastava from Titwala near Kalyan, bringing an end to the long chase.

The team that executed the arrest included PI Keshav Wagh, API Santosh Mali, along with the cyber team. He is currently remanded to police custody for further interrogation.

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