Thieves drill hole in shop, steal `8.8 lakh

Burglars drilled a hole in the wall of a ready-made garment shop in Pydhonie and escaped with Rs8.8 lakh cash between Friday night and early Saturday morning, the police said.

Burglars drilled a hole in the wall of a ready-made garment shop in Pydhonie and escaped with Rs8.8 lakh cash between Friday night and early Saturday morning, the police said.

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The theft was discovered at 10.30am on Saturday when the owner of Noor Collection, Asif Chunawala, 40, came to the shop. When he found the previous day’s earnings missing, he checked the shop and found a hole at the north end of the store, said an officer from Pydhonie police station.

Chunawala alerted the police and a case of break-in was registered. The police suspect the role of professionals considering the way they entered the shop.

When questioned why Chunawala kept such a large sum at the shop, police said he had left a relative incharge while he went to the mosque in the evening. When Chunawala returned an hour later, the relative had already shut the shop.

“We are checking the relative’s call records. It would be premature to say anything about his involvement in the case,” said sub-inspector Nitin Gaikwad.