While investigating the case of a 15-year-old girl going missing, the Khopoli police stumbled upon a lead that helped them solve a case of theft of gold ornaments worth Rs 1.76 lakh carried out by that girl to help her boyfriend buy a sports bike. Senior inspector S M Shinde said, "A doctor and his wife from Bazarpeth had gone out, while their daughter was at home, on May 9. On returning, they found that seven tolas of gold ornaments were stolen from the cupboard and they filed a police complaint." The girl went missing on May 23 and the doctor lodged a complaint. He added "As she was a minor, as per Supreme Court guidelines, we registered a kidnapping case and immediately started investigations. He school friends told us she was having an affair with a 20-year-old college student. He had recently purchased a sports bike worth Rs 85,000. The boy's financial status was not sound. We found him in Panvel on Tuesday evening." Shinde said that he revealed that the girl had given him the ornaments so that he could use the money to buy the bike.

The girl returned home on Tuesday morning. When her mother questioned her, she claimed that she had left after a quarrel with her elder brother and had taken a train to Karjat, where she spent the night on the platform. In the morning, she returned as she regretted leaving home without informing her parents.

Shinde said that when they summoned the girl in the presence of her parents and asked her about the money, she confessed to the crime and stated that she wanted to roam around with him on a sports bike.

As the boyfriend was unable to sell the gold, he sought the help of two college friends, both aged 19, who sold it to a person selling artificial jewellery in Khopoli. They sold the gold worth Rs 1.76 lakh for Rs 85,000. We have recovered the stolen ornaments.

"The three youths, who have been arrested, are residents of Bhavanraj Road, Vihari and Katrang in Khopoli. The Alibaug court has remanded them to police custody."

The girl will be produced before a juvenile court.