Jewels robbed on bus in Salem recovered from MP, gang flees

A five-member gang from Madhya Pradesh trailed Gautham, working in a Coimbatore-based jewellery shop, while he was returning from Hyderabad in an omni bus with jewels in February. He was also accompanied by two other staff in the bus.

When the trio got down the bus, which halted in a hotel near Sankagiri in Salem district, the accused got into the bus and fled the scene with the bag containing jewels kept beneath their seat.

Acting on a complaint, the police checked the CCTV grab showing the suspects following the bus in a car and stealing away the jewels. Special teams of police fanned out to Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chittoor, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh in search of the accused.

Intensive investigations revealed that the robbers were from a village in Dhar district in Madhya Pradesh. Following this, a police team camped in Madhya Pradesh to nab the culprits.

Upon identifying the thieves, the cops decided to nab them by approaching under the pretext of potential jewel buyers. “As planned, the police lured the accused to a place named Kalibawdi and checked the jewels in their possession. They all were found to be stolen ones,” the police said.

When cops attempted to nab the five-member gang, they managed to free themselves from their clutches and escaped by an unregistered car. The culprits also tried to snatch away the jewels, but cops retained it by holding the bag tight.  

Then the cops gave a chase, but the accused could not be traced. The seized jewels include gold and diamond necklace, ear rings and rings.  

Salem District Superintendent of Police S Deepa Ganiger inspected the recovered jewels at Sankagiri police station. Later, talking to media, he said “jewels worth Rs 3 crores were seized. However, the accused escaped and special teams of police are on the lookout for them by camping inMadhya Pradesh.”