Jewellery worth crores looted in two robberies
Hours after four assailants waylaid and injured the owner and two employees of a courier company, transporting gold jewellery estimated to be worth a few crores, another gang struck at a jeweller's shop in southwest Delhi's Palam area and decamped with gold and cash amounting to Rs 5 crore on Wednesday afternoon.
Hours after four assailants waylaid and injured the owner and two employees of a courier company, transporting gold jewellery estimated to be worth a few crores, another gang struck at a jeweller's shop in southwest Delhi's Palam area and decamped with gold and cash amounting to Rs 5 crore on Wednesday afternoon.
Police said the first incident was reported around 10.45pm on Tuesday when the owner, identified as Hansraj, and two of his office staff were travelling to the domestic airport through the Delhi Cantonment area in their Maruti Swift.
"Hansraj, who is the owner of Sai Courier Company, was driving the said vehicle with two of his staffers, when a Honda City car intercepted them, forced them to de-board at gun-point, snatched the gold jewellery contained in bags and fled," said a senior police officer investigating the incident.
Meanwhile, a gang of thieves entered the Naresh Jewellers shop, allegedly by opening the back door of the shop located in the Syndication Market in the Palam area between 2pm and 4pm. "I closed my shop around 1pm and when I returned at 4pm along with my son, I found that the backdoor was open and the almirah was ransacked. After discovering the theft I immediately called up the police. For the safety of my shop, I change locks every six months. I don't think anyone from my staff has done it," said Naresh Kumar Soni, the owner of the said shop.
Soni, who stays just 100 metres away from his shop, had gone to Yusuf Sarai for some work when this incident took place.
"Soni claimed that 22kg gold, six diamond rings and Rs 22 lakh in cash were missing from his shop even as the locks securing the gate, from where the burglars are understood to have entered the shop, were intact. We have reason to believe that the locks were opened with duplicate keys," said a police officer.
Amulya Patnaik, joint commissioner of police (southern range) said, "Both cases are being investigated in right earnest and the versions of the complainant(s) are being examined in relation to circumstantial evidence. The role of an insider, in both incidents, is also being investigated."