Burglars embarrass cops with daring jewel heist

Ornaments worth Rs 30 lakh stolen from store opposite DCPs office

Jaichandra Jain, the owner of Pooja Jewellers on Bazaar street here, was shocked when he opened the shutters of his store at around 11 am on Friday and rushed straight to the police station opposite.

“We had closed at 9.30 last night. When I walked in today (Friday), there was barely anything in the store,” Jain said.

Sources said it was clearly a planned burglary as the offenders had drilled a hole, big enough for one person to gain entry, through the ceiling of the store. The floor above the store  housed a hotel in the past and is now vacant.

“This is not something that could have been done in a day. The burglars have observed the shop, probably valued how much their effort was worth and found a suitable point of entry,” they said.

That the shop was diagonally opposite the police station, and that too in the vision of the DCP’s office, has left locals wary of safety in the area.
Pradeep, a local, said: “I see police on bikes every night chasing people who have just gotten off their office cabs and are having a smoke or wishing each other good night. But where were they when somebody was drilling a hole into a jewellery store right opposite their station.”

Another local said: “It is time that a system is put in place for police doing night rounds. I would feel safer if the police interacted with us and design their night rounds in a way that such instances are not repeated.”

The embarrassment for the police was not something they could conceal with the grim looks under their cap. As the news was reported at the station, it was circulated as per procedure. And almost everybody concerned, including the DCP (East), ACP, police inspector were in attendance, investigating at the spot.