TIRUCHY: In a daring heist, three unidentified miscreants allegedly robbed two employees of a Chennai-based jewellery store of 10 kg gold, worth around Rs 10 crore, on Saturday night by breaking a window of the car they were travelling in and sprinkling chilli powder on them near Irungalur in Tiruchy district.
According to police sources, the incident took place around 10 pm when SR Gunavanth (24) of Ernavur and D Mahesh Rawal (20) of Sowcarpet, employees of a private jewellery shop at Sowcarpet, were returning to Chennai after delivering gold to various jewellery outlets in Dindigul. The car, provided by the jewellery store, was driven by T Pradeep Jat (24) of Sowcarpet.
As they passed a private medical college near Irungalur on the Tiruchy-Chennai NH, Pradeep stopped the car briefly to relieve himself, sources said.
Gang opened boot of car, fled with bags of gold
At that point, three unidentified men in another car, who were allegedly following them, pulled over. The gang smashed the window of the employees’ vehicle and threw chilli powder on them.
They snatched the car key, opened the boot and fled with the bags containing the gold, sources said. Subsequently, the staff, who were unable to resist or identify the robbers due to the chilli powder in their eyes, dialled the police emergency helpline (100).
The Samayapuram police rushed to the spot and registered a case. Special teams have been formed to investigate the incident, and fingerprint experts and sniffer dogs were brought to the crime spot.
Police are also examining CCTV footage and vehicle movement data to trace the culprits, who are suspected to have fled towards Chennai, police sources said. Out of the 12 kg of gold for distribution, 2 kg was delivered to stores, and the 10 kg, stored in the car’s boot, was stolen, sources added.