Breakthrough in Tanishq burglary case: One held, says he wanted to 'expose' security loopholes
28 Jan 2014 12:30 AM IST
Pics: 'Pilot aspirant' thief surrenders claiming he just wanted to expose loopholes in security.
Hyderabad City Police commissioner Anurag Sharma with the jewellery surrendered by the burglar Kiran (inset), who stole them from Tanishq jewellery store - DC/S. Surender Reddy
Hyderabad: In a major breakthrough the City Police on Monday arrested Kiran, a youth from Guntur district for the daring robbery of Tanishiq showroom in Panchagutta on Saturday, right under the nose of the police.
Kiran was arrested in connection with burglary of 15.57 kg of gold ornaments and coloured stones worth Rs 5.98 crore, police said. The Tanishq management had put the loss at Rs 23 crore.
Kiran, a mason from Guntur district, who wanted to become a pilot, committed the theft on the intervening night of January 24 and 25 along with his cousin Anand, Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anurag Sharma told reporters.
While investigation was in progress in the case, Kiran approached and surrendered before a local media house Sunday night and claimed that he just wanted to expose the loopholes in the society and security system, Sharma said.
Subsequently, on his confession police searched his room here and recovered gold and other valuables weighing 15.5 kg, he said.
"Initially, Kiran said that he was alone involved in the crime but after sustained questioning, he confessed that he along with his cousin Anand had planned and committed the offence," the police commissioner said.
Kiran also said that used just a screwdriver and a hammer to gain access into the high-security showroom.
When the offence got extensive media coverage and they came to know that the entire police force was looking for the offenders, the duo developed cold feet and decided to give up and came up with a story that Kiran wanted to show his talent and also expose loopholes in security system, the Hyderabad police chief explained.
However, further questioning by police revealed that Kiran wanted to be a pilot and for the training fee he needed Rs 15 lakh while Anand, who had polio, wanted Rs 15-20 lakh for his treatment, Sharma said.
The duo, being masons, also had expertise in making holes in walls to place electric pipes and used the technique in the theft, besides also conducting a recce of the showroom. They initially broke a part of the wall of the showroom on the night of January 22 and entered the showroom after drilling hole in the rear wall and made away with the booty, he said.
Kiran used the rear side of the showroom to chip his way through. He told police that he did not take more than half an hour to gain access.
He made a rectangular hole in the wall at a place where there was a window earlier. If the hole was drilled a few inches away, and was not rectangular, the showcases would have made it difficult to drill through, as there were iron plates behind them.
Anand is still absconding with small quantity of ornaments and police teams have been dispatched to apprehend him, Sharma said. Further investigation in other aspects of the case is also being done, he added.
Incidentally, Panchagutta is a high-security zone as the Chief Minister’s camp office and scores of jewellery shops are located in this area.
Earlier, officials investigating the burglary case had suspected an inter-state gang hailing from Uttar Pradesh.
A Central Crime Station team had left for Maharashtra and UP to search for a gang that had committed a similar robbery in Sangli district of Maharashtra.
( Source : dc online/agencies )
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