THRISSUR: In a suspected case of housebreaking, 371 sovereign gold and Rs 2 lakh in cash were stolen from the house of a gold merchant based in Guruvayur.
KV Balan, who leads a retired life after ending his gold jewelry business in the gulf, was shocked to notice his house door remaining locked when he came back after a movie on Thursday evening.
"We went for an afternoon outing on Thursday. We left the house at around 2.30 pm and came back after a movie at around 9.30 pm. When we tried to open the front door of the house, we noticed that it was locked from the inside. We went to the door behind, it remained open. It gave a hint of something wrong and hence called the police immediately," shared Balan.
Guruvayur ACP KG Suresh said that upon primary investigation, CCTV visuals that give clues about the burglar were received and the probe was underway based on that. As per the CCTV visuals obtained, a person wearing a T-shirt and pants with a backpack on his shoulder went out of the house at around 8.30 pm.
"We are exploring the possibilities of where the burglar could have gone after the incident. Possibilities of if there was a gang to aid him are also being probed," he said.
While the house owner indicated he had suspicions about the burglar who may know about the presence of so much gold in the house, police said that it need not be true. "The gold and cash were kept in a sealed locker in the cupboard in the master bedroom. Obviously, the burglar who went there first, got such a huge quantity of gold and cash, would have returned without searching further," police added.
As per the statement of the house owner, out of the stolen gold, gold bars of 1.5 kg were also present. ACP Suresh added that a special squad of officers was formed to investigate the burglary. As per the conclusions of the police, the burglar entered the house by breaking open the door upstairs and left through the backdoor. A rough calculation indicated that the stolen gold was worth Rs.1.3 crore.
Guruvayur police registered a case and initiated a probe on Friday after conducting the forensic examinations.