TIRUNELVELI: In one of the biggest heists in recent years, a four-member gang allegedly burgled over 37 kg of gold and Rs 10 lakh cash from a jewellery shop in the busy market street of Palayamkottai town in Tirunelveli in the wee hours on Friday. The thieves had meticulously disconnected CCTV camera cables soon after sneaking into Alagar Jewellers.
However, their faces were caught in a few other CCTV cameras. The footage showed the middle-aged men clad in shirt and pants taking jewellery from display boards in the shop. This has come as a vital clue for police, and sources said later in the day a vehicle, suspected to be of that of the thieves, was seized in Vellore district and investigations are on.
“The Tata Sumo vehicle was stopped near Katpadi, and the persons fled from the spot, leaving behind the vehicle. The jewellery and cash stolen from the shop were inside the vehicle,” said a top officer in the Tirunelveli city police.
The exact amount of gold and cash seized from the vehicle was not revealed by officers. From preliminary clues, it appears to be a well-planned heist.
Police said the burglars had climbed to the terrace of the four-storey building and made a hole in an iron door in the third floor using gas cutters. Soon, they disconnected cables to the CCTV cameras on the third floor. “But their images were recorded in the CCTV footages in the second and first floors,” said a police officer.
Even as the burglars went on with their work, the security guards at the shop were apparently unaware. Despite the shop being located on the busy Thiruvananthapuram Road at Murugankurichi, the heist went unnoticed till morning. While initial estimates put the amount of gold burgled at 60 kg, police officials later said only about 37 kg of gold and `10 lakh cash were stolen, while they were still verifying records.
City police commissioner R Thirugnanam and deputy commissioner of police Pradip Kumar visited the crime spot.