10 kg gold looted from jewellery shop in city

The owner of AKS Jewellery, Ayyappan (50), opened the showroom at 10.15 am on Tuesday and was shocked to see all the jewels missing. Police said that unidentified men entered the building after breaking the iron closure on the terrace of the four-storey building and decamped with the gold jewels, silver articles and Rs six lakh kept in the cash drawer. 

The burglars also damaged the CCTV cameras and took away the digital video recorder (DVR), said police. Ayyappan of Periyakulam in Theni district has been running the jewellery shop in the locality for the last six years. He moved to the present premises four years ago and his house is located opposite to the shop.

While the entire street is filled with gemstone shops, this is the lone jewellery shop. Ayyappan is also involved in the chit fund business. A total of six persons are employed in the shop, including three women and two goldsmiths. 

The first two floors of the building showcased gold jewellery, the third floor had silver articles and the jewels were made by goldsmiths in the fourth floor. Based on Ayyappan’s complaint, Tirumangalam police registered a case and sniffer dogs were also pressed into service. However, the dogs ran up to 100 metres from the shop and returned to showroom again. 

Seven special teams have been formed under Anna Nagar Deputy Commissioner to nab the burglars. It may be recalled that on November 16, Mahalakshmi Jewellery in Kolathur was burgled by a north Indian gang and police arrested the accused Nathuram after much struggle.