BHUBANESWAR: On December 4, when burglars struck at the jewellery store at Delta Square in the City, they spent close to four hours inside the store before decamping with the booty without anyone spotting them.
The theft of gold and silver ornaments worth a whopping Rs 1 crore has once again exposed poor patrolling and surveillance of the Commissionerate Police.
Around 1 kg gold and 10 kg silver ornaments were stolen from Shree Lakshmi Narayan Jewellers in Delta Square. Apart from the ornaments, the miscreants also stole Rs 2 lakh in cash from the store.
The CCTV footage accessed by the police from one of the nearby shops revealed that the miscreants arrived at the store at 1 am and left at around 5 am.
The miscreants cut open an iron grill and the shutter and broke a glass door to trespass into the jewellery store located at Nilima Complex within Khandagiri police limits. The thieves were well prepared and had apparently carried out a thorough recce of the store as they turned six to seven CCTV cameras off and stole the digital video recorder to avoid getting identified by the police. As an added safety measure, they placed the store’s flex hoarding in front of the shutter to avoid being seen by locals.
It is baffling how the night patrolling teams did not have a clue of the miscreants carrying out the theft for four hours. The police came to know of the crime only after being informed by the store’s owner the next morning.
In the footage, one of the miscreants’ faces is visible but the police are yet to make any headway in connection with the case.
The thieves also broke open the showcases and stole chains, rings, earrings and other ornaments. Sources said there was hardly any movement of locals due to the rains and the accused probably took advantage of it.
“Initial investigation suggests the culprits used gas cutters to break into the store. However, we did not find any clue from the spot and efforts are on to identify and nab the accused,” said a police officer, adding efforts are on to crack the case at the earliest.