Unidentified miscreants looted a jewellery shop in Sarafa Bazaar early on Sunday morning, escaping with gold and silver ornaments worth over ₹60 lakh.
The robbery took place around 4 am when five armed men held the watchman at gunpoint and broke into the shop.
Ajay Kumar, owner of the shop, told police that the robbers made away with a safe containing approximately 50 tolas (500 grams) of gold and 20 kilograms of silver jewellery. “The estimated cost of the looted jewellery is over ₹60 lakh.The entire incident was captured on CCTV cameras installed in and around the shop,” Kumar said.
Superintendent of police Prabhjot Singh Virk said, “Forensic teams have collected evidence from the scene. We are tracking the suspects’ movement through CCTV footage and have gathered some leads. We will apprehend them soon.”
The robbers appeared to have conducted a prior recce of the area as CCTV footage showed them moving directly toward the jewellery chest, police said.
This is the second major robbery in Kapurthala district within a week. On May 31, robbers looted nearly ₹40 lakh from an HDFC Bank branch in Rihanna Jattan village.
One held for bank robbery, ₹13.10 lakh recovered
{{/usCountry}}One held for bank robbery, ₹13.10 lakh recovered
{{/usCountry}}Nine days after three masked robbers looted ₹38.34 lakh from an HDFC Bank branch in Rihanna Jattan village, Kapurthala police have arrested one of the accused and recovered ₹13.10 lakh stolen cash.
Senior superintendent of police Gaurav Toora identified the arrested accused as Gurminder Singh, a resident of Kahlwan village in Jalandhar district. He was part of the trio that conducted the robbery at the bank on May 31. “The robbery was executed with precision, with the masked robbers entering and exiting the bank within three minutes. A country-made pistol of 7.65mm calibre, used in the crime, has also been recovered from Gurminder. The other two involved in the loot have been identified and will be arrested soon,” he said.
During interrogation, Gurminder revealed that the gang used a white Hyundai Verna with fake number plates to avoid detection, the SSP added.