Jewel thief who fled with Rs 2 cr ornaments from Jaipur nabbed in Gujarat

Jaipur, Dec 2 (IANS) A thief, who stole jewellery worth Rs 2 crore from a five star hotel in Jaipur, has been arrested by the Rajasthan Police from Gujarat's Surat district.

Police officials confirmed that the team seized the stolen jewellery from his possession.

The accused was residing in a hotel in Gujarat, said sources, adding that he was identified as Jayesh Raoji Sejpal. He is an 'expert' in stealing jewellery from five star hotels during lavish weddings, said the sources.

Sejpal, stole the jewellery from the Jaipur hotel on November 25.

The police team, which nabbed the thief, will reach Jaipur from Gujarat on Thursday along with him and will interrogate him for further information.

Sejpal is also wanted by the police of different states where he stole while staying in five star hotels.

Five days before carrying out the theft in Jaipur, Sejpal committed a similar heist in Udaipur-situated Trident hotel, said police sources.

Police searched the CCTV cameras and sent his pictures to different police stations to identify the culprit.

Thereafter, his identity was confirmed.

Sejpal is said to be a mastermind in planning thefts in five star hotels.

Police sources said that before the heist, he conducts a recce in the hotel, then waits for the marriage parties and guests to arrive at the hotel. He would enter the hotel along with them, keeping a hawk's eye on those who were keeping their luggage only to themselves and not handing it over to the hotel staff. Once the victim was identified, Sejpal would then target him or her.

When the guests used to come out of the room, Sejpal would get the lock opened by the hotel staff while introducing himself as a member from the marriage party, and then steal the precious jewellery. He generally travelled by bus after committing the crime, police sources added.

Following the similar pattern, he is said to have committed around 13 thefts and has been arrested thrice before. However, he got out on bail each time. Last time, he was arrested from Chandigarh and has been on bail ever since.

Police sources said that he has committed thefts in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Kanpur, Agra and other cities where a case has been registered against him. Sejpal was also arrested in Hyderabad in 2018, and in Agra in 2006.