Gold, diamonds worth over ₹4.5 cr looted from Chennai jewellery shop

CHENNAI: At least 9 kg of gold worth Rs 4.5 crore and Rs 20 lakh worth of diamonds along with cash were looted from a jewellery shop in Perambur on Thursday night.

The gold heist was carried out by criminals who had used a gas cutter to open the front metal shutter of the shop to gain entry.

The loot happened at JL Gold Palace, located on Paper Mills Road in Perambur. The shop belonged to one Sridhar who had set up his shop on the first floor of the building, while he stayed with the family on the second floor, police said.

The staff of the shop had closed the shop on Thursday night around 9 pm and had handed over the keys to Sridhar.

On Friday morning, when he came to open the shop he was shocked to find the shutter cut open and gold and diamond missing from the shop.

The intruders had also taken the hard disk of CCTV cameras installed inside the shop.

Based on the complaint from Sridhar Thiru Vi Ka police are probing the case. They are trying to find out some leads from other CCTV installed in the neighbourhood.

Police said that Sridhar has been running the shop for the last eight years.

"It looks like a carefully planned act. Despite the owner and family staying on the second floor the criminals had managed to take away the gold and diamonds without attracting attention. The intruders had also taken away the hard disk of the internal CCTVs so that the investigating team will not get any evidence immediately," police added.