Jewellery store burgled in Chennai’s Camp Road

CHENNAI: Burglars drilled a hole into a jewellery store at Camp Road Junction and decamped with gold jewellery and silver articles – weighing close to 20 kg in total -- in the early hours of Friday. The shop was burgled in a similar manner in 2001.
On Thursday night, owner Manoj closed the store after business hours and went home. He instructed his staff to come early on Friday and open the shop as he expected brisk business on Akshaya Trithiya.
Around 8 am on Friday, Manoj opened the shop and found everything scattered around and the valuables missing.He went inside and found a hole, of nearly two diameters, drilled on the wall of a toilet located behind the shop.
The burglars had also attempted to open the locker room by cutting the iron grill. As they could not do it on time, they abandoned the task and looted gold jewellery and silver articles kept on display in the showroom.
He alerted Selaiyur police. Senior police officers visited the scene of crime and formed two special teams to crack the case. Forensic specialists were pressed into service. They lifted fingerprints. Police sources said that CCTV footage shows a man entering the shop early on Friday.
"We are checking if it was one burglar or a gang. They have escaped through the same hole. In 2001, burglars broke the wall on another side of the shop and looted the valuables. It appears that this time the suspects have patiently sat in the toilet, broken the wall and gained entry," a senior police officer said.
The officer added that some criminals adopt such a modus operandi. "There was a group that would park their vehicle near the shop, drill a hole using it as a cover and then gain entry into the shop. Some would sprinkle red chilli and powder, spray perfumes or even defecate to avoid being tracked by sniffer dogs," he added.