KOCHI: In perhaps the biggest heist Kochi has seen, two men on a bike robbed 20kg gold worth more than Rs 6 crore on Thursday night after smashing open the SUV in which the gold nuggets were being transported by a team of four persons to a refining firm at Edayar near Eloor.
The gang attacked the car when it arrived in front of CGR Metalloys Pvt Ltd’s gate at 9.57 pm, smashed its window panes with iron rods and sprayed pepper on the employees before taking the nuggets away.
Among the employees, Noel, 21, Peter, 49, and Jestin, 53, escaped unhurt while Saji, 48, who drove the car, suffered minor injuries on his face and shoulders when the shattered window panes fell on him.
Binanipuram police station house officer Anoop C Nair said the robbers wrapped up the heist in two minutes.
“The vehicle, transporting 20 kg gold in four plastic containers in a bag kept in the boot of the vehicle, was stopped at the company’s gate by two men on a motorcycle covering their face with helmet,” he said.
Noel, who managed to run away, alerted CGR Managing Director James Jose who later informed the police.“As per the preliminary inspection, we could learn that it was a planned attempt. So far we haven’t received any crucial evidence to nab the robbers. But we’re confident of getting crucial evidence without much delay,” said Anoop.
Meanwhile, the cops have started probing whether the people who had done similar robbery earlier have any involvement in the case. “At present, we can’t say anything in this regard. The investigation has been launched and we hope we can arrest the culprits soon,” said Rahul R Nair, District Police Chief, Ernakulam Rural.