After the tragic passing of his parents, Raj Kumar is also separated from his elder brother. He ends up hungry and penniless in Bombay, and is taken in by a pickpocket thief, Usmanbhai, who trains Raj to be a master at picking pockets and stealing. It is in this atmosphere that Raj grows up and calls himself Raju Tardeo, for this is the area allocated to him to carry on stealing. Raju comes to know that a wealthy woman named Kamini has run away from home, and a reward has been placed in all newspapers. He finds her, pretends to fall in love with her, steals her necklace, and takes her back home to her oppressive uncle, who wants her to get married to Ranjeet. Kamini manages to run away, this time weary of running into the cunning Raju, who she had fallen in love with, only to fall in the clutches of a criminal don by the name of Shankar, who not only has her necklace, which was bought from Raju, and plans to ensure that she is returned home. Kamini escapes again, only to run into Raju, who she now finds in the company of a woman named Roma and a child. Alone, and nowhere to turn to for help, Kamini must now decide whether to take her life or surrender to her uncle's wishes.
