Delhi jewellery shop heist: Thieves drilled hole into strong room, says owner

As owners of the jewellery shop in south Delhi opened it on Tuesday, they found dust all around - and were shocked to see a hole in the wall of the strongroom and jewellery worth over Rs 20 crore stolen, making it one of the biggest robberies reported in the national capital recently.

Owner Sanjay Jain of Umrao Jewellers in Bhogal market of the Jangpura area said that the shop remains closed on every Monday and he suspected that thieves had managed to make their way in from the terrace.

As per sources, at least three unidentified people broke into the jewellery showroom and decamped with ornaments worth over Rs 20 crore.

"The burglars even disconnected the six CCTV cameras installed in the shop during the commission of the crime," a source said.

Locals said that Bhogal market has few jewellery shops, however, the entire area is said to be covered in CCTV.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Southeast, Rajesh Deo said that a police control room call was received at Nizamuddin police station regarding burglary in a jewellery shop at Bhogal market, Jangpura, and a police team reached the spot.

During the initial probe, it was found that the shop closed at 8 p.m on September 24 (Sunday) and remained closed the next day (Monday). On Tuesday, when the owners opened the shop at around 10.30 a.m, they found that the concrete wall of the safe room of the shop had been damaged in the break-in," said the DCP.

Crime teams were called in and some preliminary evidence has been collected.

"The burgled shop had several CCTV, however these were made dysfunctional around midnight on September 24," said the DCP.

"The owners have reported theft of 30 kg of gold jewellery and Rs five lakhs in cash. A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and several teams have been constituted to work out the case," he said.

An official privy to investigation said that police teams are scanning CCTV cameras in the area to identify the culprits and trace them. “There are several CCTV cameras in the area, and a police team has been tasked to scan them. We are also trying to ascertain the route taken by the accused. We are hopeful that the accused will be nabbed soon,” the official added.

Mahavir Prasad Jain, the father of Sanjay Jain said that this showroom has a rich history spanning 75 years and this is an unprecedented incident for them. "Our shop employs six to seven workers, all of whom have been loyal employees for the past two decades. Typically, our showroom remains closed on Mondays. We securely locked it at around 8 p.m on Sunday, and when we reopened it at approximately 10:30 a.m on Tuesday, we discovered the burglary," he said.