A gang of criminals recently pulled off a major theft in Delhi. The incident happened at Umrao Singh Jewellers, a 75-year-old jewelry store in the Bhogal area of Southeast Delhi. The thieves targeted the store on Sunday night, but the incident wasn’t discovered until Tuesday because the market was closed on Monday.
The criminals likely entered the store by going through adjacent buildings and then accessing the store’s terrace. They forced open a wooden door to get inside. They then disabled the store’s security systems before going to the ground floor.
The ground floor of the store has a strongroom that leads to the basement. This is where the thieves found their main target – gold and jewelry worth around Rs 24-25 crore, along with Rs 5 lakh in cash. They used a drill to create a hole in the strongroom and collected all the valuables, storing them in bags in the shop.
The whole operation took about three to four hours. After taking everything from the strongroom, the thieves also took additional gold and diamond ornaments from the ground floor. They briefly checked other floors but didn’t find anything valuable. They left the same way they came, fleeing in a parked Bolero vehicle.
Surprisingly, the jewelry store didn’t have a security guard at the time of the theft. The thieves took advantage of this and chose to strike on Sunday when the market is closed on Mondays, ensuring less scrutiny.
The neighboring buildings were mainly residential and one had a tuition center on one of its floors. The criminals likely gained entry through the terraces and entrance gates, which are usually open during the day. Authorities are questioning residents to see if they noticed anything suspicious. CCTV footage showed that the thieves were not wearing masks during the operation.
The stolen items weighed about 30 kilograms and included over 3,000 pieces of high-value gold and diamond jewelry. The police suspect that there may have been insider involvement in the heist. They also believe that the thieves had knowledge of where the valuable items were located.
The police have registered a case and formed multiple teams to investigate the theft. The shop owner expressed shock and said that they never expected something like this to happen.
