Jewellery shop heist: Hole in the wall

Bengaluru: The Bommanahalli police have arrested three people who had burgled a jewellery shop, after renting a house next to it and drilling a hole in the wall.

Investigations revealed that an accused in the case planned the burglary to arrange money to repay loans taken to buy a flat in Mumbai. The police have recovered Rs 70 lakh worth gold and silver articles.

Pradeep Dileep Mole, 27, Praful Chandrakanth Shinde alias Prashanth, 35, both hailing from Maharashtra and Gourang Mondal alias Gopi, 37, of Jharkhand are the accused.

Pawan Jewelers & Bankers located in Hongasandra on Begur Main Road was found burgled on June 30. It was found that the burglars had rented a house attached to the shop and had gained entry into it on the previous night by drilling its wall.

They had decamped with gold valuables and cash kept in the showcase and also the iron safe chest by breaking it using a gas cutter. Based on the CCTV footage and other technical help, the police teams went to several places in Maharashtra, West Bengal and Jharkhand and nabbed the three accused.

“Investigations revealed that accused, Praful, was an auto driver and then had turned to an agent supplying artistes and singers to pubs and bars in Mumbai. He had bought a flat in Mumbai and borrowed huge sum of money for the purpose. As he could not repay, he had planned to commit burglary and had moved to Bengaluru two months prior to the incident. He was staying in Bilekahalli. He had called his friends, accused Pradeep and Mansoor Sheikh, to discuss the same and they hatched a conspiracy to burgle a jewellery store,” the police said.

“After visiting several shops, they identified Pawan Jewellers & Bankers in Hongasandra, as it was attached to a house that was vacant. They rented the house a week before the incident. To help him in the job, he approached three others including Gourang Mondal, as he does gas cutting works. He brought gas cylinders and machines from Jharkhand to the city to commit the burglary. For 3-4 days, they drilled the wall of the jewellery shop after it closed in the night and finally they gained entry on June 29 night and escaped with valuables,” the police added.

After committing the offence, Praful had gone to his hometown in Kolhapur in Maharashtra and had buried the valuables near a cowshed. Three days later, the accused had shared the booty equally, the police said adding that two kg of gold and 20 kg of silver articles worth Rs 70 lakh were recovered from the accused. Efforts are on to nab the absconding accused, they added.