40 kg jewellery worth Rs 6 cr stolen in City

The manager of Mini Muthoottu Gold Loan Deposits noticed the theft on Wednesday morning. When he went inside, manager Isaac V John (38) found that huge quantity of jewellery was stolen.  

The office is located in the second floor of a three-storey complex on 5th A Main Road, New Thippasandra, HAL third stage in JB Nagar police limits.

According to the police, when John was returning home on a moped on Tuesday evening,  an unidentified motorist (bearing registration number  KA02/ED15) rammed into his bike near 13th cross on Indiranagar Main Road. John fell down and sustained minor injuries in the leg. As a crowd of nearly 30 gathered at the accident spot to inquire as to what had happened, three unidentified persons came in a Maruti van and helped John. As chaos prevailed, the motorist fled the scene, leaving behind his bike, John had told the police.

John thrashed

The three persons told John that he needed first aid and requested him to get into their van to go to a nearby hospital. He got into the van without caring to collect the bag containing office keys from the utility box in the two-wheeler.  John informed the police that the trio did not take him to the hospital, but went driving around Marathahalli, Whitefield and Malur. He was thrashed when he protested. He became semi-conscious after they threw some fluid on his face. He could hear the voices but could not understand what they were talking in Kannada. The trio were aged between 20 and 30. They kept him with them till 9 pm. They pushed him out of the van near Lingadheerasandra on Malur Road and fled.

A farmer spotted him and took him to Vaidehi Hospital. John went home after taking treatment at the hospital.

He called up one of the directors on Wednesday morning and narrated the previous night's incident.  He rushed to the office on the advice of the director and found the office door was open and the keys lying on the floor. Later, he alerted the police.

Several questions remain unanswered

Hundreds of customers rushed to the office as the news of theft spread. Most of them were virtually weeping and were requesting the police to take steps to get back their jewellery. Some of them had pledged their gold to get loans for weddings, securing jobs and treatment of their family members.

The police refused to answer some of the vital questions like: Why did John keep keys inside utility box of his moped? Why did he get into the car without a second thought when three strangers asked him to do so? Why did he leave the moped on the road and go with them? Why did he not alert the director when he was thrown out of the van on road? Why did the director ask him to rush to the office first, instead of informing the police? Did the accused leave the key on the spot deliberately to mislead investigating officials? The police said it is too early to comment on anything.

The building does not have any security guard. The firm has not installed installing a close-circuit camera, said police. The police have formed four teams to work on the case.