Manappuram heist in Gurugram: Gold worth ₹6 crore looted by armed men

The suspects’ faces were clearly visible in CCTV footage and the firm’s headquarters located in Kerala had also swung into action

Two days after five armed men fled with gold and cash from a non-banking financial firm on Sheetla Mata Mandir road, an internal audit allegedly shows valuables worth ₹6 crore have been robbed from the store, police said on Monday.

Shree Krishna, manager of Manappuram Gold in Sector 5, said as per their audit, 323 packets of gold ornaments mortgaged by the customers were looted by the suspects besides ₹9.5 lakh cash. (Representational image)

Shree Krishna, manager of Manappuram Gold in Sector 5, said as per their audit, 323 packets of gold ornaments mortgaged by the customers were looted by the suspects besides ₹9.5 lakh cash.

“It amounts to about 8.5kg gold valued in the market at atleast ₹6 crore as majority of ornaments mortgaged are of 22 carat,” he said.

Krishna said there was gold worth ₹13 crore in the vault when the five armed suspects impersonating auditors barged inside the branch at 6pm on Saturday.

“They panicked after the alarm turned on as the vault door remained open for more than 30 seconds. They took us hostage on gunpoint and also hit me and another employee on the head with a pistol. They stayed here for over 20 minutes,” he alleged.

Further, police said the suspects had reached the spot in an auto rickshaw which they had parked at least 150 metre away from the branch.

Their faces were clearly visible in the CCTV footage of the branch and the firm’s headquarters located in Kerala had also swung into action after the central control room showed the incident’s footage.

Police also suggested that the suspects were aware of the activities taking place inside the store. They posed as auditors and entered the branch and the guard let them in as auditors had actually visited the branch that morning.

Assistant commissioner of police (Old Gurugram) Manjeet (single name) said they have already questioned the guard of the branch and found no foul play on his part. “We have clear footage of the suspects involved in the loot. We have detained some persons for quizzing to ascertain if they know those involved in the heist,” he said.