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How A Pav Bhaji Craving Led To A Rs 2.15 Crore Gold Robbery Crackdown In Kalaburagi
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One of the accused stopped for a snack, and not only was his movement captured on CCTV cameras, but his payment left behind a digital trail that helped police zero in on him
When masked robbers targeted a gold jewellery shop in Karnataka's Kalaburagi, they executed a plan that seemed foolproof—until one of them gave in to a plate of pav bhaji worth Rs 30. The snack not only led to their arrest, but also forced them to cough up gold worth Rs 2.15 crore.
On July 11, Ayodhya Prasad Chouhan (48), Farooq Ahmed Malik (40), and Sohail Shaikh alias Badshah allegedly planned the heist at the jewellery store owned by Marathulla Malik. They roped in another local criminal whom police have been trying to trace.
As Farooq, the mastermind behind the robbery, stationed himself outside the shop to keep watch during the operation, the other three accused, armed with guns, stormed the store in broad daylight, tied Marathulla Malik's hands and feet with a rope, opened the locker, and fled with what police later determined was not 805 grams but 3 kilograms of gold ornaments, along with cash. Marathulla had not disclosed the unaccounted gold to the police initially, fearing a raid, revealing yet another twist in the tale.
Police also found during investigation that Farooq, who had been running a goldsmith business, had suffered heavy financial losses. With debts mounting to Rs 40 lakh, he had roped in the other criminals to loot the shop and revive his failing business.
However, it was Farooq's next move that proved to be their undoing. Instead of fleeing immediately, he stopped at a nearby roadside eatery for pav bhaji. His movement was captured on CCTV cameras from adjacent shops, which the police later reviewed. What gave him away was the Rs 30 he paid via PhonePe—a digital trail that helped police zero in on him.
'We found that after they left for the shop, Farooq stayed back and paid Rs 30 for pav bhaji through PhonePe. Once the others returned after the heist, they all fled together. We traced the digital payment and got a contact number, which turned out to be a crucial lead," a police officer said.
Visuals accessed by the police showed the three armed robbers briefly stepping out of the shop to speak to Farooq before going back inside. Once the job was done, all four left the spot together.
While police managed to arrest the accused and recover a significant portion of the loot, they discovered that the jeweller had under-reported the value of the stolen gold. Marathulla Malik initially told the police that the gang had looted 805 grams of gold and some cash. But there was more to admit—Malik later confessed to the police that around 3 kg of gold had been taken. Police are now investigating him as well.
Some of the stolen gold was melted down soon after the heist, while a portion was retained by the accused. A special team formed under Kalaburagi police commissioner SD Sharanappa later recovered 2.865 kg of gold and Rs 4.80 lakh in cash.
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First Published:
July 24, 2025, 13:04 IST
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