Overview

• The jewelled ritual urn was taken on September 3 from a Jain Parv pandal near the Red Fort during a crowd rush as Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla visited, according to police.
• Crime Branch officers arrested Bhushan Verma, 50, in Hapur on the night of September 7–8 and detained associates Gaurav Kumar Verma and Ankit Patil for receiving and melting the stolen gold.
• Investigators recovered the intact kalash valued at over Rs 1 crore, seized melted gold and Rs 10,400 in cash, and found equipment used to liquefy other stolen items.
• Police say Verma posed as a priest after days of reconnaissance, located Jain gatherings via social media, mingled with worshippers, and avoided carrying a phone to limit digital traces.
• The probe drew on CCTV enhancement, e-Face and e-Prisons databases, IMEI tracing and a UPI/Paytm profile photo, with coordinated raids in Hapur and Ghaziabad ongoing to identify receivers and jewellers.