Inspired by India’s riches

After Edier Jaidiber, the Columbian burglar arrested by the police, landed in the Capital on March 10, Select Citywalk, an upmarket mall in South Delhi, was the first place he went with his Columbian friend.

After Edier Jaidiber, the Columbian burglar arrested by the police, landed in the Capital on March 10, Select Citywalk, an upmarket mall in South Delhi, was the first place he went with his Columbian friend.

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"He asked his hotel manager in Karol Bagh, where they checked in, to tell him about posh malls in the city. The manager told them about Select Citywalk. They then went to Saket to do a recce of residential areas," said a senior police officer.

The police said Jaidiber was a resident of a favela or a shantytown in Bogota, Columbia, and had decided to come to India after failing at many jobs including being a cabbie to working in a restaurant.

After his arrest, he told the police that he was influenced about India after watching a programme about the country. But at first Jaidiber had pretended to be speech impaired. He gave up pretending and spoke in fluent English after being questioned sternly.

The police said the 'gang' also had a woman accomplice and had come to India on a tourist visa. The police have issued lookout circulars against his three Columbian friends — Edisson Maurieio, Carlos Alfanso and Monica Yulietch.

Modus operandi

The police said the burglars had brought with them a few sophisticated tools purchased from a local Walmart store in Bogota. They also had powerful bolt cutters, screwdrivers of different kinds and a few other tools.

"They checked in at a hotel in Karol Bagh on March 10 but shifted to another hotel. They stayed there till March 15. They went to Saket area and burgled a senior citizen’s house and decamped with jewellery and cash. On March 15, they burgled another house in Saket,” said HGS Dhaliwal, deputy commissioner of police (South).