Delhi heist: Burglars disabled CCTV, alarm

For decades, Umrao Singh Jewellers in Jangpura had been shut on Mondays. It was no different this week. But when owner Mahavir Prashad Jain walked in on Tuesday, he found every inch of the jewellery store caked in dust, many display shelves empty and the strongroom scarred by a large hole in one wall, which had been used to empty out the shop's locker. All the alarms in the store had been disarmed and the CCTV connections snapped.

The store in the busy Bhogal neighbourhood was missing at least 200 pieces of jewellery, including 125 diamond rings, worth upwards of ₹20 crore. A group of burglars had, on Sunday night, pulled off a dramatic heist on the 75-year-old jewellery store that went unnoticed for over 30 hours till Tuesday morning, said police, detailing an intricate plan that exploited nearly every loophole in the store's security apparatus.

No suspects have been identified yet, police said, but added that the meticulously outlined operation suggested that insiders likely had a role to play. A case under sections 380 and 381 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was filed at the Nizamuddin police station.

Deputy commissioner of police (south-east) Rajesh Deo said the police control room (PCR) received a call at 10.55 am regarding burglary in a jewellery shop at Bhogal Market, Jangpura. "The shop was closed at 8pm on Sunday and remained closed the next day. Today, when the owners opened the shop at around 10.30am, they found that the concrete wall of the safe room of the shop has been broken. The owners have reported theft of 30 kg of gold jewellery and ₹5 lakh in cash. A case has been registered at several teams have been constituted to work out the case," the DCP said.