The Vijayawada police cracked a case of gold heist with a few hours after it was reported, and picked up four suspects, all belonging to a gang from Rajasthan.
The daylight robbery created sensation in the locality, when the gang struck at the workshop belonged to Sai Charan Jewellers, located in Katurivaari Veedhi, in the One Town area. The suspected thieves reportedly tied the hands and legs of a worker before fleeing with the yellow metal.
The shop owner, who noticed the theft, lodged a complaint with the police on Friday. The gang is said to have escaped with gold jewellery weighing about 7 kg and ₹40 lakh in cash, the complaint said.
Police Commissioner B. Srinivasulu, Deputy Commissioner of Police Vikrant Patil, West Zone ACP K. Sudhakar, One Town CI P. Venkateswarlu rushed to the spot and inspected the scene of offence. Police formed five special teams and intensified patrolling and vehicle-checks. All the entrances leading to and from the city were also closed.
The suspects were detained at Krishnaveni Ghat when they were reportedly trying to escape in a vehicle. They reportedly snatched the CCTV from the workshop to erase any clues and threw it in a canal, which was later recovered by the police, .
“We are trying to observe the CCTV footage in the vicinity and collect the details of the labourers working in the workshop,” Mr. Patil told the media.
“One of the suspects in the case, Vikram Singh, joined Sai Charan Jewellers a few months ago. He allegedly planned to loot the shop and asked his associates to come to the city. The gang after conducting a ‘recce’ struck at the workshop on Friday morning,” an investigation officer said.
The worker, who suffered injuries in the robbery, was admitted to hospital and his condition is stated to be stable.