‘High-profile thief’ arrested in Chhattisgarh in ‘Rs 25-core’ Delhi jewellery burglary case

New Delhi [India] September 29 (ANI): The sensational burglary case in Delhi’s Bhogal area “has been solved” in a joint operation of Chhattisgarh Police and Delhi Police and a  “high-profile” thief has been arrested, a senior Bilaspur Police official said on Friday.

Additional SP Bilaspur Sanjay Dhruv said that Delhi Police was trying to solve the burglary case in which thieves decamped with jewellery of around Rs 25 crore earlier this week. He said Bilaspur was also trying to solve cases of theft.

The police official said that the accused is a resident of Durg in Chhattisgarh and the district police also had some hints about him.    

“In a joint operation of Chhattisgarh Police and Delhi Police, a burglary case in a jewellery shop in Delhi has been solved. The accused has been arrested and further investigation is underway. The accused is a high-profile type of thief… We were constantly monitoring his movement and then further action was taken,” Sanjay Dhruv told ANI.

He said “jewellery stolen has been recovered” in the Delhi theft case. 

The police official said there are cases both in Delhi and Bilaspur regarding  burglaries and further action will be taken by police.  

Answering queries about the accused, Dhruv said the accused did not indulge in “small theft crimes” and had indulged in theft worth about Rs 2 crore in Kawardha and the Chhattisgarh police was tracking him.

He said Durg Police was also keeping an eye on him as he had been indulging in big thefts in different parts of the country.   

“We had been keeping a close eye. When we got to know about the Rs 25 crore Delhi theft case, we started keeping an eye on him and coordinated with Delhi Police,” Dhruv said.   

In a major incident of burglary in the national capital earlier this week, thieves decamped with jewellery after creating a hole in the wall of the strong room of a shop in the Bhogal area with the owner stating that it had “jewellery worth around Rs 20-25 crores”.

Delhi Police had said it was a “big incident of burglary” and that they were conducting an investigation.  

Bilaspur SP Santosh Singh said a raid was conducted in Durg in which a person has been arrested.

“Raid was conducted in Durg in which one person has been arrested. Seven-eight cases of robbery are lodged against him in the Bilaspur Police Station,” he said.

He said an associate of the accused was held from Kawardha and recovery worth Rs 23 lakh including jewellery and cash was recovered.

The police official said Rs 12.50 lakh in cash “and over 18kg of gold and diamonds have been seized from the accused which also include items robbed from a jewellery shop in Delhi (in Bhogal)”. 

Singh said a Delhi Police team had also reached the place.

The official said an inter-state gang was involved and there could be information about more cases.

Delhi Police officials had earlier said that two persons were detained from Chhattisgarh and their interrogation is underway.

Sanjeev Jain,  owner of the jewellery shop in the Bhogal area which was burgled, had told ANI that they closed the shop on Sunday and when they opened it on Tuesday there was a lot of dust in the entire shop.   He said the CCTV camera had been damaged.

“We closed the shop on Sunday and when we opened it on Tuesday after an off on Monday, we saw that there was dust in the whole shop and there was a hole in the wall of the strong room… We think they (thieves) have looted everything. There was jewellery worth around Rs 20-25 crore. They entered from the terrace. Everything is damaged including CCTV. An investigation is underway,” he said.

The visuals from the spot showed a big hole in the wall along the staircase.

Delhi Police sources had said that the culprits had prior information about the shop and jewellery and knew how to reach the strong room. They said the thieves also knew about the electronic instruments.

The police sources said the way the burglary had been committed, it appears that the culprits had come to the place earlier to plan their act.