More than 150 sovereigns of gold jewellery were found stolen from Jos Alukkas jewellery in Coimbatore in the early hours of Tuesday, November 28. The police have formed five special teams to investigate the burglary.
Coimbatore City Police Commissioner V. Balakrishnan told media persons that the ornaments stolen from the jewellery group’s outlet on 100 Feet Road could be anywhere between 150 and 200 sovereigns. Since the jewellery was stolen at random from multiple racks, it took a while for the staff who arrived at the showroom on Tuesday morning to realise that a burglary had taken place.
Mr. Balakrishnan said the showroom had security staff and 12 employees were staying on the top floor of the building when the burglary happened.
On being alerted by the showroom management, police arrived at the spot around 11 a.m. and analysed visuals from surveillance cameras. Visuals from one of the cameras showed a man wearing a surgical mask and gloves, and holding a bag, moving through one of the floors of the showroom at 2.29 a.m. Police suspect that the burglary was the work of a single person.
It is suspected that the burglar gained entry into the building through a duct from the sidewall that led to the false ceiling of the floor on which the jewellery was kept, and might have exited through the same route.
Mr. Balakrishnan said the jewellery group had carried out renovation works a few months ago. The police will now probe the possible involvement of one of the renovation workers in the burglary.
“We have got some clues in the preliminary investigation. We will trace the person soon. The police will also check if other people were involved in the crime,” he said.
A forensic team of the police examined the crime scene for fingerprints and other evidence. Tracker Vilma of the dog squad was also brought to the location.
Deputy Commissioners of Police K. Shanmugam (Coimbatore south) and G. Chandeesh (Coimbatore north) are heading the investigation.
The showroom staff are further auditing the stock to ascertain the actual quantum of jewellery that was stolen.
