UK Thieves Eye ‘Pushtaini’ Jewellery of Indians, Rob 28,000 Homes in 6 Years for Asian Gold

London: Indian-beginning houses are on the center of over a hundred and forty million kilos well worth of gold jewelry stolen inside the UK over the past five years, a freedom of facts request found out on Saturday.
So-referred to as “Asian gold,” bought as wedding items and known to be stored in homes of South Asian foundation households as its miles passed down generations, led to almost 28,000 thefts in 2013, the BBC research found.
Out of 23 of 45 police forces from throughout Britain that furnished figures on those thefts, Greater London had the best value stolen, a hundred and fifteen.6 million kilos, observed by using 9.6 million pounds in Greater Manchester.

Sanjay Kumar, who specializes in selling Asian gold inside the dominantly Indian-beginning suburb of Southall in west London, stated he acknowledged the cultural significance behind gold jewelry and continually suggested that his customers think carefully about how they keep and insure their gold. “People are told by their parents and grandparents ‘that you should purchase gold. It is an investment; it’s lucky. It’s something that we as Asians do, so humans are following the culture and the tradition,” he stated. Police forces investigating robbery cases said that during some burglaries, sufferers owned large quantities of jewelry. However, that was not usually the case. In Cheshire, police set up a dedicated group to paintings with community members after a sequence of Asian gold-associated burglaries.

Aaron Duggan, head of crime at Cheshire Police, said that one of the challenges his officials face is that gold can be disposed of without problems. “At 2D-hand shops around Asian jewelry, questions must be asked – ‘Who is this man or woman in front of me promoting this gold?’ The irony is it is frequently tougher on this u. S. A. To promote scrap metallic than it’s miles 2nd-hand jewelry,” he said. Scotland Yard regularly issues unique advice around Diwali, Navratri, and different principal Indian galas for the British Asian community to be more vigilant.

“The pageant length tends to look a spike on this type of crime largely due to more jewelry being worn as communities travel throughout London to distinctive venues whether or not temples or other humans’ homes,” the Metropolitan Police declared. During 2017-18, the Met Police recorded 300 such excessive-fee thefts worth around 21.2 million kilos. Kent Police with 89 thefts worth 1.6 million pounds and Greater Manchester Police with 238 thefts worth 1. Five million pounds have been many of the other vital hotspots.
“Gold will stay tremendously preferred through criminals due to the speed and anonymity with which it may be exchanged for large sums of coins,” Metropolitan Police Detective Constable Lisa Keeley stated at some stage in the final year’s Diwali enchantment.

“These pieces of gold and jewelry are not just precious possessions; they’re also of the super sentimental fee, and if stolen, would have a massive impact on proprietors. Our proactive measures to tackle those crimes have visible reductions in offenses. However, there may be greater to be achieved,” she said. Operation Nugget is the Met Police’s dedicated operation to address gold thieves, which seeks to pressure down the wide variety of such offenses through a chain of initiatives.