THANE: In a crime straight out of a Hindi film, three men posing as fruit merchants leased a shop adjoining a jewellery unit in Thane’s Vartak Nagar area and later drilled their way into it through the common wall and fled with gold and silver ornaments worth Rs 1.3 crore, the Thane police said.
According to officials, the incident was reported on Sunday morning after the jeweller approached the Vartak Nagar police. The CCTV footage inside the jewellery shop had captured the three accused digging a hole in wall using a gas cutter around 12.45am to enter the shop. The identity of the accused remained unknown except for their visuals as they had not shared any identity proof with the shop owner.
“The men stole silver and gold ornaments kept inside the shop worth Rs 1.3crore and decamped,” said deputy police commissioner, zone V, Dr V M Rathod.
Assistant police commissioner, Pankaj Shirsat, said the accused approached the shop owner in November 2020 and leased his premises for Rs 28,000 per month to start their fruit business under the name Abdul fruit mart. They cited slump in business due to Covid and convinced the owner to defer the agreement till they were settled financially, the police said.
“The accused were aware of the activities in the jewellery shop and had timed their heist accordingly. Once done, they re-entered their shop from the cavity and escaped without raising any suspicion,” said the police.