KASARGOD: In an overnight heist, burglars drilled a hole in the wall of a jewellery shop to steal gold and silver ornaments reportedly worth `16 lakh, said police.
According to a complaint filed by jewellery owner Ashokan of Kundamkuzhi, the thieves took away 500 gm of gold ornaments and 4.5 kg of silver ornaments from Sumangali Jewellery at Bandaduka. The stolen gold ornaments are valued around `14 lakh and silver around `2 lakh.
Investigating officer and Adhur inspector Sibi Thomas said the thieves were professionals and the police were looking into similar heists to crack the case. They might have used hydraulic equipment to drill the wall so as to muffle the sound, he said.
Inside the shop, there were two lockers - one inside the other- underground. “They managed to open the external locker, but the secret locker inside was left untouched,” Thomas said. The locks were bent, indicating the application of force to open it.
There was no alarm system or CCTV camera inside or outside the shop, police said. The theft was spotted by residents when they saw the hole in the wall on Thursday morning.
Ashokan’s main jewellery shop at Kundamkuzhi, also named Sumangali - was burgled on October 4, 2016, Thomas said. Then they had stolen 450 gm of gold ornaments and 4 kg of silver. “We had arrested all the five accused in the case and they are behind the bars awaiting trial,” he said.
Four of them were from Uttar Pradesh and one was a Malayalee, he said.