Days after a gang of unidentified persons broke into a jewellery store in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore, police have arrested one of the accused. In the wee hours of December 15, the gang had stolen 15 kg of gold jewellery worth over Rs 8 crore from the Jos Alukkas showroom in Vellore’s Thottapalayam. They had also stolen 500 grams of silver from the store, according to the police.
The police formed eight teams, headed by a Deputy Inspector General of Police, along with four Deputy Commissioners. After scanning the CCTV footage from the store and questioning several people, a man named Theekaram, who is a resident of Pallikondavai, was taken into custody and later arrested, the police said. The police recovered a portion of the gold in Odugathur, which authorities said Theekaram had melted down and hidden in some shrubs. The others involved in the crime are yet to be arrested.
On December 15, the miscreants had entered the Jos Alukkas store, which is located on the ground floor of a three-storey building, by drilling a hole into the back wall. The incident occured after 10 pm, when the store was closed for the day. CCTV footage from the shop shows one of the robbers wearing a full-face animal mask. The gang had reportedly spray painted all the security cameras inside the showroom. The theft was reported on the following morning, on December 16, when the Jos Alukkas employees opened the shutters. The police were immediately informed and investigation into the matter began.
After the robbery came to light, the police said that as part of their efforts to clamp down on the miscreants, security at the district’s borders was tightened. The police reportedly found pieces of evidence, including a wig worn by one of the robbers, inside the shop after the incident occured.
Read details of the crime here: Gang breaks into Jos Alukkas store in TN, steals gold worth Rs 8 cr