Five held for stealing 199 gold coins while demolishing house in Gujarat

Five persons were arrested for allegedly stealing 199 gold coins they found while demolishing a house in Bilimora in Gujarat's Navsari district, a police official said on Monday.

The coins have the image of King George V engraved on them and the house, on Bazaar Street, belongs to NRI Hawaben Balia, who currently resides in Leicester in the United Kingdom, he said.

Balia filed a complaint against contractor Sarfaraz Karadiya, who was hired to raze the house, and four labourers hailing from Alirajpur in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh who carried out the demolition, the official said.

"A case of theft of gold coins from a heritage house was registered and five persons were named as accused. There was no clarity on the number of gold coins that had been stolen. The FIR was lodged by Balia on October 21," Navsari Superintendent of Police Sushil Agrawal said.

The five accused were charged under Indian Penal Code sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 114 (abettor present at spot when offence is committed), the SP said, adding they have confessed to stealing the coins while pulling down the structure.

"A police team from here visited Alirajpur six times and arrested four labourers. The contractor from Valsad was arrested. They were held on December 26 and have been remanded in police custody till January 3," Agrawal said.

A total of 199 gold coins with the engraving of King George V, dating back to 1922 and weighing 8 grams each, have been recovered from their homes, the SP said.

The value of these coins is Rs 92 lakh as per current market valuation, he said.

Meanwhile, four policemen from Madhya Pradesh were also arrested after an FIR was lodged at Sondba police station in Alirajpur on the complaint of one of the arrested labourers who claimed they looted some of the gold coins.

Navsari police will seek the permission of the court to interrogate the MP police personnel to recover coins in their possession, the SP informed.

"The recovered coins belong to the court at present. They will be handed over to either the state government or the complainant on the basis of the court's decision on whether it is national treasure or private property," he said.

The SP said police will write to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and Gujarat government for clarity on the issue.