VIJAYAWADA: The Vijayawada police on Friday solved the case of a gold heist within two hours of it being reported. The incident happened on Katurivari Street near Gandhi Mahila Kalasala under One Town police station limits in the morning, and the accused — an employee at the shop — was put behind bars.
Disclosing the details to the media on Friday night, Vijayawada City Commissioner of Police (CP) B Sreenivasulu said shop owner Raju Singh Charan, 42, complained that miscreants attacked his staff in broad daylight and decamped with gold and silver ornaments worth around Rs 3.5 crore, and cash worth Rs 42 lakh.
Charan opened his shop, Sai Charan Jewelers, on Katurivari Street two years ago, and as most of his employees were stuck in Rajasthan due to the lockdown, he employed one Vikram Kumar Lohar about 40 days ago.
To ensure the safety of the gold and silver at the shop, Charan decided to spend the night there, while Vikram stayed there during the day. Vikram, who was waiting for a chance to steal the gold and silver, implemented his plan on Friday. He got himself injured and tied to a chair.
When another gold trader and Charan’s friend Gopal Singh came to the shop around 11 am to take the gold and cash, he found Vikram unconscious and tied to a chair. Before injuring himself, Vikram erased the CCTV footage at the shop and shifted the valuables to a nearby abandoned shop.
Worried, Gopal informed Charan about the incident, and the latter rushed to the spot and informed the police. CP Sreenivasulu and other officials visited the shop and collected evidence.“Though the incident was believed to be a gang robbery first, in the investigation it was found that one man committed the crime after getting greedy on seeing the huge amount of gold and cash. In order to cover up his crime, Vikram portrayed it as a gang attack, but was caught red-handed. CCTV footage from another shop showed Vikram throwing the evidence in a nearby drain,” said the CP.
All the stolen property — 7 kg of gold, 19 kg of silver and Rs 42 lakh in cash — was recovered from the abandoned shop.“We request all traders to install CCTV cameras in their establishments to avoid crimes. In this case, CCTV recordings helped the police trace the suspect’s movements,” the Commissioner said.