BERHAMPUR: They learnt the tricks of burglary by watching YouTube videos and devised a novel way of mortgaging stolen jewellery with private finance firms to obtain cash in form of loans. But luck ran out for the two youths Santosh Sahu and Deepak Mohapatra when their lavish lifestyle without a visible source of income raised suspicion and they were taken in by police.
Berhampur SP Pinak Mishra on Thursday said the duo confessed to have committed 15 robberies. Apart from burgling houses, they committed robbery of 1.3 kg of gold ornaments from a jewellery shop in Bada Bazar area earlier this month. Around 540 gram of gold and silver ornaments, cash of `30,000, a car, three costly bikes, one TV, laptop and a camera have been seized from them.
The two youths admitted that they learnt to break locks and commit theft from YouTube videos. They roamed in the streets during the daytime to identify locked houses and in night, struck at the places. They mortgaged stolen gold in private finance firms and spent lavishly with the cash.
“The duo has confessed to have mortgaged the stolen gold at Manappuram finance company to borrow `21 lakh. The disposal of stolen gold in finance companies to avail loan is a disturbing trend and involvement of these firms in loot cases may not be ruled out,” Mishra said.
It has been seen in the past that burglars mortgage the booty in banks. With bankers tightening their surveillance mechanism, burglars might be finding the gold-leasing companies easier option to dispose of the stolen precious metal and get cash in the form of loan. The verification process rarely crosschecks the antecedents of the mortgager, the SP added.
Police are questioning the staff of the gold-leasing firm. Senior officers have been asked to verify such private firms to ascertain whether they are following the SOPs. Those found violating would face stringent action, Mishra stated.
The SP said police have also nabbed three other persons for purchasing the stolen gold and other articles which include currency notes of over 1,000 Euros. The Euros along with other articles were recently burgled from the house of a doctor.
“We suspect the duo may be involved in more cases of burglary and involvement of others in the crimes. They have been produced in court and police will bring them on remand for further interrogation,” Mishra added.