Red Fort ‘Kalash’ Mystery Cracked: Delhi Police Nab Thief Behind ₹1-Crore Heist
Golden urn stolen from Jain festival recovered, accused caught in Hapur....
New Delhi : Five days after a golden ‘kalash’ (urn) worth over ₹1 crore was stolen from a Jain religious festival at the Red Fort, the Delhi Police crime branch has arrested the prime accused.
The accused has been identified as Bhushan Verma, who was nabbed from Hapur, Uttar Pradesh, by a special team led by Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Devesh Srivastava.
The Theft
The incident took place on Wednesday when a 10-day Jain festival was being celebrated near the historic Red Fort. The urn, weighing 760 grams of gold and studded with 115 grams of diamonds, rubies, and emeralds, belonged to Sudhir Kumar Jain (66), a businessman from Civil Lines.
According to the complaint, Jain brought the urn from his home daily for prayers and kept it on the stage. On Wednesday morning, around 9:20 am, the urn was still there. But when Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla arrived, the crowd turned its attention towards him for nearly an hour. During this distraction, the urn disappeared.
When Jain began wrapping up the event around 10:20 am, he discovered the urn missing and immediately filed an e-FIR.
CCTV Footage Tells the Story
Police examined the CCTV footage, which showed the suspect, disguised as a community member in dhoti-kurta, picking up the urn, hiding it in a green and black cloth bag, and calmly walking away towards the kitchen area before exiting the venue.
Police Case Registered
Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Raja Banthia confirmed that a case of theft has been registered under Section 303(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The Heritage Value
Jain told the police that the urn had been part of his family’s religious tradition since his father’s time. “I took the urn to the venue for prayers every day and brought it back. On Wednesday, during the visit of the Lok Sabha Speaker, everyone’s attention shifted, and that’s when it went missing,” he said.
Police Crack the Case
After tracking leads, the crime branch traced the accused to Hapur, where he was arrested. Police officials confirmed that the urn has been recovered and further interrogation is underway to determine whether others were involved in the conspiracy.
