CHENNAI: Two men employed at a jewellery store were arrested for stealing gold jewellery worth Rs 1.27 crore, amounting to 150 sovereigns. The duo, hailing from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, had been working at the firm in Sowcarpet for more than five years and pilfered the jewellery over several months, police said.

The Elephant Gate police arrested the accused, Gunakanti Kranti (26) of Telangana and Ega Manikanda (23) of Andhra Pradesh, based on a complaint from Jaish Jain (29) of Sowcarpet, who runs a jewellery store on Veerappa Street.

According to the complaint, during a recent audit, they found that about 1.2 kg of gold jewellery was missing. Based on the complaint, the police examined CCTV footage and found that the accused had been sneaking gold from the store in small amounts for the last year.

During investigations, they confessed to the crime, after which the police recovered 75 grams of the stolen gold jewellery from them. Police said that they sold the remaining jewellery.

The arrested persons were produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.