Bengaluru: With shopkeeper gone for tea, thieves loot 4 smartwatches, Rs 54,000

Thieves stole four smartwatches and Rs 54,000 in cash from an electronics retailer in southern Bengaluru when the owner stepped out for tea, leaving the shop unattended.

Mukhtiyar, 39, walked out of his shop — MR Electronics located on Subramanyapura Main Road in Banashankari 2nd Stage — around 10 pm on November 3 to have tea at a nearby shop.

As was his usual practice, he left the shop unattended. He returned to the shop about half an hour later, closed for the day and headed home to Kengeri Satellite Town.

He reopened the shop around 8 am the next day and decided to check the cash box. Rs 54,000 was missing. A similar check of the stock revealed that four smartwatches were also missing. He made inquiries and did a brief investigation but didn’t get a clue.

He filed a complaint with the Banashankari police four days later, on November 3, because he was tied up in an emergency.

He told the police that he suspected that the thieves had struck when he had stepped out for tea.

Police have filed a case under IPC Section 380 (theft in a dwelling house) and are carrying out investigations, an officer said.