FRIDAY, MAY 17, 2024
Team Herald
Panaji Police have successfully apprehended Nabokumar Mahal, the prime accused in a wine store fraud case involving the misappropriation of high-value liquor bottles. The complaint was lodged by Carlos Barreto, Partner of M/s Casa Barreto, Wine Stores, Travesa Revoluccao Road, Panaji.
According to the complaint filed on February 28, 2023, Nabokumar Mahal, a resident of West Bengal and a servant employed by Barreto, allegedly misappropriated Black Label, Red Label, and Jagermeister bottles from M/s Casa Barreto, Wine Stores, between October 2022 and February 9, 2023. The accused reportedly exchanged these bottles with boxes containing lower-value brands, namely Royal Challenge, Royal Stag, and Mcdowells.
Furthermore, two additional individuals, Chitta Jena, employed at Barrel House Wine Store, Opp Kamat Estate, St Inez, and Surabh Narulkar, the owner of Barrel House Wine Store, were implicated for dishonestly purchasing the swapped boxes, fully aware that they contained higher-priced bottles. This collaboration resulted in a financial loss of Rs 40,00,000 to Carlos Barreto.
In response to the complaint, Panaji Town Police registered an offence under Crime No. 38/2023, invoking sections 406, 408, 420 read with 34 of the Indian Penal Code. Chitta Jena, Surabh Narulkar, and Nabokumar Mahal were named as the accused in the case.
While Chitta Jena, Surabh Narulkar, and Nabokumar Mahal were initially arrested and subsequently released, Nabokumar Mahal had been absconding since the commission of the crime. The Panaji Town Police, with meticulous planning and intelligence gathering, managed to trace and apprehend Nabokumar Mahal in West Bengal.
The successful operation was led by PI Panaji Vijaykumar Chodankar, PSI Deepesh Shetkar, LPSI Sapna Gawas, HC-5151 Nitin Gaonkar, PC-6962 Sadanand Malik, and PC-7816 Aditya Mardolkar of Panaji PS. The team executed the operation under the overall supervision of Sudesh R. Naik, SDPO Panaji, and Akshat Kaushal, IPS, SP North.
