The Salem police are on the lookout for five men who robbed a businessman of jewellery worth Rs 3 crore.
According to reports, Gautham, a jewellery businessman was travelling from Hyderabad to Coimbatore in a private omnibus on February 9. As the bus stopped en route in Sankagiri for food, many passengers got down the bus and so did Gautham. As they all returned to the bus, he noticed his bag which had gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs 3 crore missing. He immediately alerted the bus driver and conductor who then helped him file a complaint with the Sankagiri police. The CCTV visual of a man suspected to have stolen the jewellery has been released by the police.
In the CCTV visual from the camera inside the bus, a man is seen frantically looking around at the berths, standing in the aisle. He then turns to the upper berth to his left and reaches out deep into the berth and seems to rummage through a bag. He then moves a little down the aisle and takes a look at other berths on both sides and walks towards the door of the bus.
Based on Gautham’s complaint, the police registered an FIR under section 379 (theft) of the IPC and conducted inquiries in Sankagiri, Bengaluru, Chittoor, Hyderabad and Solapur, Usmanabad and Mumbai to trace the accused. Based on tip-offs from these inquiries, the police zeroed in on five men from Madhya Pradesh who might have stolen the jewellery.
To trap them, the police also devised a plan by which they posed as potential buyers of the jewellery. “On March 2, when we inspected the jewels, it was clear that these were the ones stolen from Gautham and hence we tried to arrest the men, who tried to grab the jewellery back from us. However, since we did not let go of the jewels, the accused left the bag at the spot and escaped in the car they came in. Though we chased them, we couldn’t secure them,” stated a press release from the police. The accused have been identified as Mustafa, Akhtar, Muneer, Ahmad Khan and Ajay Rathor from Dhar in Madhya Pradesh.
Speaking to TNM, a senior police officer from Sankagiri said that the crime was planned by the gang. “It seems like they had been observing and following Gautham from Hyderabad. We are actively taking steps to secure all the five accused soon,” he added.