Businessmen dealing in gold and jewels can finally heave a sigh of relief. The L T Marg police yesterday arrested jeweler Ramesh Thadeshwar who specialised in swindling these businessmen.

He and three others Devang Kanhaiya, Jitendra Dhakan and Anil Pathak were arrested for cheating jeweler Dhanesh Tejawat of Rs 38 lakh and threatening him. Thadeshwar, who went by the aliases of Ramesh Zaveri and Ramesh Soni, has around six cases of cheating against him.

The Theft
Tejawat, who owns the jewelry store Swastik diamonds in Mumbadevi, has known Kanhaiya for the past five years. On March 4, Thadeshwar and Kanhaiya told Tejawat that Thadeshwar was a businessman and Kanhaiya was now his partner. Thadeshwar selected jewelry worth Rs 37,98,091 to ostensibly sell it at a higher rate.

Kanhaiya told Tejawat that he did not have any money on him and would pay him the next day. As Tejawat knew Kanhaiya, he agreed. Dhakan, Pathak and one Jaysukh Vakhariya were also present. Later, Thadeshwar gave him a cheque of Rs 5 lakh that bounced twice. He told Tejawat it was because they had not yet received the money from the person to whom they had sold the jewelry.

A month later, the accused took Tejawat to a shop at Opera House and threatened him that if he did not stop asking for money, they would harass him and his family. They also claimed to have high-level contacts in the police department.

"It was then that he complained to us. We set a trap for the accused and arrested them," said Police Inspector Shrikant Desai of L T Marg police station. "He is a big time cheat and must have cheated around hundred people."

Modus Operandi
According to Police Inspector Shrikant Desai, "Thadeshwar would contact an employee of a jewelry showroom and convince him to cheat a jewelry shop owner with whom the contact's showroom has been dealing for a long time.

He would lure his associates by promising them a huge amount of money. He would then meet the victim, establish trust and steal jewelry worth lakhs."