Jewellery worth Rs 12 crore stolen from Madhya Pradesh showroom
Thieves entered a Katni jewellery showroom by drilling through a nine-inch-thick rear wall during the early hours of Thursday.
Thieves broke into Kisna Jewellers in the Bargawan area of Katni on Thursday morning, stealing gold and diamond ornaments estimated to be worth Rs 12 crore, according to The Indian Express. The burglars entered the premises by drilling a hole through a nine-inch-thick rear wall rather than forcing the main entrance.
The theft was discovered when employees arrived to open the showroom. They found the interiors ransacked, display counters emptied, and safes broken open. Showroom owner Mohan Bajaj said the shop had additional stock due to the festive season and estimated the stolen jewellery was worth approximately Rs 12 crore.
Katni Superintendent of Police (SP) Abhinav Vishwakarma said preliminary investigations suggest the burglary occurred between 4 am and 7 am on November 12. He stated that the thieves appeared to have studied the showroom layout in advance and targeted the safes and display counters.
Police suspect the operation was well-planned. While the showroom had a watchman, CCTV cameras, and an alarm system, investigators suspect the alarm may have been tampered with to make it dysfunctional.
A forensic team and fingerprint experts have collected evidence from the damaged wall, safes, and counters. Police have seized CCTV footage from inside the showroom and are examining recordings from nearby roads and markets to trace the suspects' route.
Several teams have been formed to investigate the case and trace the stolen items. The exact value of the missing jewellery will be confirmed following an audit of the showroom records.