The Hindu : Front Page : Gold heist in Bangalore at gunpoint

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Sunday, Aug 12, 2007
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Gold heist in Bangalore at gunpoint

Staff Reporter

Gang gets away with jewellery worth Rs. 3.6 crore and Rs. 3 lakh in cash

— Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.

Emptied: A scene inside the Chemmanur Jewellers outlet on Kammanahalli Main Road in Bangalore after the robbery on Saturday.

BANGALORE: In a brazen heist, a four-member gang robbed an outlet of a jewellery chain on Kammanahalli Main Road here on Saturday and wiped the place clean of all its gold — 36 kg of the precious metal worth Rs. 3.6 crore, according to the proprietors — besides looting Rs. 3 lakh in cash.

This is the biggest jewellery heist yet in the city. The well-dressed gang members entered the Chemmanur Jewellers outlet, one of the 15 owned by the chain, around 10.45 a.m. and threatened the nine employees at gunpoint before fleeing with the loot.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Gopal B. Hosur said the four turned up when the store, located in Meeta Residency, had just opened for the day. Brandishing their revolvers, they herded the employees into a room and stashed the gold jewellery and the cash into a gunny bag. They did not touch the silver articles. “It was all over in half an hour,” Mr. Hosur said.

A security guard at Meeta Residency, who was reluctant to give his name, said he saw some men drive off in a car. “I saw some persons going in a cement-coloured car around 11.15 a.m. when I was approaching my cabin after attending to a resident’s call. I could not write down the registration number,” he said.

Based on his statement, the police are investigating whether the gang did come by car. “We are working on some clues. We will be successful in tracking down the suspects,” Mr. Hosur said.

The police viewed the footage of two of the four CCTVs in the shop which shows the robbers in the act. “We are not sure of the type of revolvers used by them,” Mr. Hosur said.

Incidentally, the store employs a security guard only at night.

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