Amateur burglars looked up the internet before targeting CMH Road jeweller: Police

A three-member gang recently arrested by Indiranagar police for burgling a jewellery shop on CMH Road had searched the internet on how to commit burglary, bought tools and practised the skill.

Mahendra, Neelakanta and Samson, aged around 28 to 29 years, are friends who allegedly burgled Meena Jewellers on the night of October 14. The store owner, Kishan Sunar, filed a complaint with Indiranagar police on October 15.

A senior police officer said the trio had been arrested within 48 hours of the crime. The jewellery they stole has been recovered.

Having practised their burglary skills, the three recced jewellery shops in the city and zeroed in on Meena Jewellers. They borrowed a car from one of their relatives, changed the number plate and drove to the jewellery shop.

Wearing facemasks and gloves, the trio broke open the shop that only had CCTV cameras, stole jewellery weighing about 1,315 grams worth Rs 60 lakh and escaped to Goa.

Indiranagar police identified the burglars from footage of cameras in nearby buildings and watched their movements. They caught the suspects when they came to dispose the
jewellery.

Another senior police officer said the trio chose Meena Jewellers since it did not have burglar alarms or security guard. Cops could not lift fingerprints from the scene as the burglars wore gloves.

Mahendra, who was into hotel business, had taken a loan to open a hotel which he shut down due to losses during the Covid-19 lockdown. Neelakanta did a sand business with his relative but was thrown out of the partnership and had suffered losses. Samson was employed by a renowned watch company.

The trio tried out burglary for the first time due to their bad financial situation but did not succeed.