Hyderabad gold heist: 4 Nigerian nationals arrested, Peruvian kingpins absconding
Hyderabad: With the arrest of four Nigerians, a major gold heist that took place in April in which 3.5 kg gold was stolen from the backseat of a car while the owner and the driver were changing a flat tyre, has finally started unravelling.
Cyberabad police, using footage recovered from 150 CCTV cameras in Hyderabad and Bengaluru, nabbed four Nigerians who had assisted in the crime. The police is now on the lookout for the Peruvians who had planned the robbery.
The jeweller from Kukatpally was returning in his car after showing the jewellery to showrooms. His last stop was at a Chandannagar jewellery shop. When his car stopped at a furniture shop ahead, public alerted the driver about a flat tyre. When the driver and Mr Abhishek got off the car to fix the flat tyre, a woman walked up to the car, put her hand through the open window, picked up the bag that had the gold and ran to a waiting car. Before Mr Abhishek or the driver could react, the car sped off.
The arrested Nigerians are Olasoju Richard Olajide, Efeture Richard Ono, Ozigagu Paul Friday and Adenusi Adewale Elijah. The police is now on the lookout for the Peruvian kingpins who are absconding. They are Miranda Romero Daniel Arturo, Pacheco Rojas Percy Moises, the woman Infanzon Sulca Rosa Ysabel and their associates Saiki Onimisi Dele and Balkins. The stolen gold has not been recovered yet.
Cyberabad Police Commissioner Sand-eep Shandilya said the main suspects Daniel, Percy and Rosa belonged to Lima and had come to India in May. Daniel landed first in Goa and then went to Bengaluru. Percy landed in Mumbai and travelled to Bengaluru via Goa, while Rosa landed in Kolkata and came to Bengaluru. They stayed in a hotel in Bengaluru. They purchased a car on April 6 and reached Hyder-abad on April 9. The Peruvians travelled to India on stolen passports and fake visas.
On the day of the crime, they reached Chandanagar before Abhishek. Before Abhishek could get back into the car, Daniel had placed some sharp metal objects under the car, so that when the car moved, the tyre would be punctured.
The Commissioner said, "The gang had travelled all the way from Charkaman in the old city uptil Chandanagar conducting a recce on the gold shops located en route and had observed the movement of the jewelers."
SIMs bought in Noida by Nigerian foursome
In the gold heist case, in which jeweller Mr Abhishek was robbed and a bag containing 3.5 kg gold was stolenfrom his car by a Peruvian suspect, SIM cards played a major role. The SIM cards used by the suspects were procured by the Nigerians for Rs 2,000 each from a dealer in Noida. When the Peruvian suspects collected the SIMs from the Nigerians, they were already activated. The SIMs were used by the suspects from the day they reached Hyderabad and uptil the robbery. Within a few seconds of the robbery, the phones were switched off.
The police commissioner said that it is becoming a matter of concern the way foreigners have been procuring SIM cards illegally. He also expressed concern about the movement of foreigners within the country without proper monitoring.
The SIMs were procured originally from a supplier in Noida in February without submission of proper documents. The police suspects that Michael could have purchased the SIMs and given them to the main suspects. The police also found out that the suspects would switch on their phones every morning and switch them off before reaching the hotel to avoid being traced.
After the crime, the suspects travelled back to Bengaluru from where they flew to Kolkata and then to Darjeeling, from where they crossed the border at Kakaribatta and entered Nepal by road.
“The gang was aware that the check post at Kakaribatta did not have a scanner to check the passport. Also, the passengers in a public transport bus would not be frisked thoroughly. Therefore they chose this route and entered Nepal”, said a police official.
From Kathmandu, the suspects travelled to Malaysia and then came back to Nepal. Later they travelled to Malaysia again. Police said their movements are not known thereafter.
“With the lack of a proper tracking system that would help monitor the movement of the foreign nationals, it is difficult to trace them. Issuing SIM cards should be made more strict and transparent to avoid such issues and the passports of the foreign nationals moving in a particular area also should be made visible online so that cops can monitor them easily”, said Commissioner Sandeep Shandilya.
The timeline
April 4: Daniel comes to Goa from Peru and goes to Bengaluru
April 4: Percy reaches Bengaluru via Mumbai and Goa
April 7: Rosa reaches Bengaluru via Kolkata
April 6: Michael and Balkins purchase car
April 9: Vehicle spotted at Alampur check post in Mahbubnagar district. The gang reaches Hyderabad
April 16 6.03 pm: The heist executed
6.12 pm: All three mobiles switched off
April 16: Balkins arrested by police in Tripura when he tried to cross the border illegally. He tried to snatch the gun of an Army soldier
April 17: Vehicle spotted crossing Devanahalli check post near Bengaluru
April 17: First clue of vehicle number from a CCTV camera installed in a small shop in KPHB
