Police said the worker, Pintoo alias Avinash Shukmangal Sharma, used to sell the stolen articles at cheaper rates to spend on bar girls and alcohol. Sharma is a resident of Rajendra Nagar in Borivali (East).

Sharma had migrated to the city from Gorakhpur three years ago and was working as an embroidery designer, police said.

Each motherboard costs around Rs 1.5 lakh. Police said Sharma used to learn about the security system of the unit while working there and later break into it and stole the motherboard and die blocks.

“Since Sharma had worked with the embroidery designing units, he knew that the motherboard contained the die block of the design,” said a police officer from Kasturba Marg police station.

The complaint against Sharma was lodged by the owner of Bappa Sitaram Embroidery unit on Carter Road in Borivali (East) on Monday.