A CCTV grab from a railway station shows two of the suspects. (AI-enhanced image)A heist of Rs 43.11-lakh diamonds of 1,437 carats and a subsequent eight-hour chase across districts in Gujarat culminated in the arrests of a woman, her father, and another accomplice, who were carrying 1,885.75 carats of the precious stones—448.75 carats more than the police had been trying to recover.A joint statement by the Ahmedabad Rural and Botad police said on Monday that three people posing as beggars entered the office of Ashok Javer Kankotia, a diamond merchant at Neelam Hira Bazaar in Botad, stole the diamonds, and fled in less than 15 minutes on Sunday. Kankotia filed a complaint at 7.47 pm.According to the police, CCTV footage showed a woman wearing a saffron top and leggings secretly entering the back door of the building at 1.09 pm and exiting at 1.23 pm clutching a small packet.Other CCTV cameras showed her hiring an autorickshaw and being driven off. The autorickshaw’s driver told the police where he had dropped off the passenger. However, when the police team reached there—a hut near the railway tracks in Botad city’s Khodiyarnagar area—it was locked.However, another CCTV video from near this hut showed the same woman, two men and a child boarding another autorickshaw. Upon finding and questioning the vehicle’s driver, the police learnt that he had dropped them off at the railway station at 4.31 pm.Later, with the Railway Protection Force’s (RPF) help, the police found that the group had boarded a local train between Botad and Ahmedabad at 5 pm. “With the help of the railway technical cell, it was determined that the train was moving towards Dholka and Bavla (on the outskirts of Ahmedabad) after passing the Koth station,” said the joint police statement.On learning that the train had crossed into Ahmedabad district, Botad Superintendent of Police Dharmendra Sharma alerted Ahmedabad Rural Superintendent of Police Om Prakash, who immediately deployed teams at the Bavla railway station, even as the police shared photos and footage of the suspects with their colleagues in Ahmedabad.Story continues below this adBefore the train reached Bavla railway station, the Ahmedabad Rural police coordinated with the RPF to set up a cordon on the platform and exit points of the station.“As soon as the Botad-Ahmedabad train entered Bavla station at around 8.30 pm, the teams started checking different coaches of the train. A woman dressed in traditional clothes and two men with her were seen alighting from the second coach with bags in their hands and leaving the station. They were stopped with utmost caution and subtly so as not to spread fear or panic among the other passengers. In the initial interrogation, the suspects denied the diamond theft. However, the diamonds were recovered and seized during a search of their belongings,” read the police statement.The police then found the diamonds in a leather purse and in 14 envelopes. With the help of a local jeweller, they ascertained that the precious stones weighed 1,885.75 carats, which was 448.75 carats more than what the police had been trying to recover. The police are now trying to find out who the extra diamonds belong to.The police identified the suspects as Sapna, 31, and her father Bachu Ramu Bhada Sadmiya— both residents of Kalavad in Jamnagar—and Botad resident Vina Dheeru Devshi Jiliya, 30.Story continues below this adWhile the two men were arrested at 10.50 pm on Sunday, the woman was arrested on Monday morning. They have been booked on charges of house break-in and theft. Further investigation is underway.Brendan Dabhi works with The Indian Express, focusing his comprehensive reporting primarily on Gujarat. He covers the region's most critical social, legal, and administrative sectors, notably specializing at the intersection of health, social justice, and disasters. Expertise Health and Public Policy: He has deep expertise in healthcare issues, including rare diseases, Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), the complex logistics of organ transplants, and public health challenges like drug-resistant TB and heat health surveillance. His on-ground reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic and Mucormycosis was critical in exposing healthcare challenges faced by marginalized communities in Gujarat. Social Justice and Legal Administration: He reports on the functioning of the legal and police system, including the impact of judicial philosophy, forensics and crucial administrative reforms (. He covers major surveillance and crackdown exercises by the Gujarat police and security on the international border. Disaster and Crisis Management: His work closely tracks how government and civic bodies respond to large-scale crises, providing essential coverage on the human and administrative fallout of disasters including cyclones, floods, conflict, major fires and reported extensively on the AI 171 crash in Ahmedabad. Civic Infrastructure and Governance: Provides timely reports on critical civic failures, including large scale infrastructure projects by the railways and civic bodies, as well as the enforcement of municipal regulations and their impact on residents and heritage. ... Read MoreStay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram