Police on Thursday arrested a 17-year-old boy with gold bars worth Rs. 2 crore after he fled with the valuables from a gold smelting unit near the Mayiladuthurai bus stand.
The smelting unit has been run for over 30 years by Suhash, a native of Maharashtra. The juvenile, Omkar, also from Maharashtra, had joined the unit only last week.
On Wednesday, Suhash had melted around 14 kg of old gold jewellery into gold bars and handed one bar to Omkar to weigh. As the boy stepped out of the shop, he suddenly fled with the gold bar, triggering panic.
A complaint was lodged at the Mayiladuthurai police station. District Superintendent of Police Stalin rushed to the spot and ordered the formation of two special teams to trace the boy.
Following a tip-off, police traced Omkar near the railway station and arrested him.
Around 1.5 kg of gold bars were recovered from his possession. He was later produced before the Mayiladuthurai court and sent to a juvenile home in Thanjavur.
