Valuables worth ₹35 lakh stolen from house in Gurugram’s Sector 109

When the professor returned home from Jaipur, he found his house ransacked and various valuables missing

Unidentified suspects were booked for allegedly decamping with valuables worth at least ₹35 lakh from an apartment in Sector 109, police said on Wednesday.

A senior police officer said that there was no sign of forced entry in the apartment. (Representational image)

Police said that the victim, professor Anshuman Tripathi, is a guest faculty at Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kozhikode and Indian Insititute of Technology (IIT) Mandi, besides being an advisor at Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneshwar.

Police said Tripathi had left for a meditation course in Jaipur on May 7. When he returned home on May 19, he found that all the rooms were ransacked and cupboards were left open. However, his apartment’s main lock was not damaged.

Police said the victim alleged that most of the stolen items were vintage and antique items. These included Indian and foreign currencies — silver and limited-edition coinages — and decorative items of precious metals and other valuables worth ₹20 lakh. Other stolen items included a collection of expensive fountain pens worth around ₹4-5 lakh, a newly purchased iPhone worth ₹1.38 lakh and cash to the tune of ₹7 lakh kept in a locker of his bedroom.

Investigators said that Tripathi later checked surveillance footage at the township to find that on May 9, a car bearing Uttar Pradesh registration, with two women in it, had allegedly reached his apartment.

As per police, the suspects entered Tripathi’s apartment and searched around for at least 50 minutes. They said that both suspects later came out with a bag and left in the same car.

A senior police officer said that there was no sign of forced entry in the apartment. “Forensic experts had reached the spot and collected finger prints of the suspects. We hope to crack the case soon. Someone may have got access to the original keys of the main door to create a duplicate one for gaining entry. It could be anyone from the society as he had shifted here hardly two months back,” he added.

On Tripathi’s complaint, an FIR was registered against the unidentified suspects under sections 380 (theft from dwelling house) and 454 (lurking house-trespass or house-breaking) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Bajghera police station on Tuesday, said police.

Subhash Boken, public relations officer of Gurugram police, said that investigation was on to trace the suspects and their car with help of CCTV footage. “They will be arrested soon,” he added.