India, June 30 -- A civil contractor was among four men arrested for stealing 70 grams of gold and 20 grams of silver articles worth Rs.7 lakh, which a Lajpat Nagar resident, through the contractor, had unknowingly handed over to a scrap dealer inside an almirah, police said on Sunday.

Jitender Singh gave an old almirah from his house to a civil contractor, Mantu Mandal, 42, asking him to sell it to a scrap dealer. Mandal did as asked, but when the scrap dealer opened a locker inside the almirah, he found the gold and silver valuables.

The scrap dealer called and informed both Singh and Mandal about his discovery, and handed over the valuables to Mandal, police said.

Singh asked Mandal to return the valuables to him, but Mandal decided...