Auto driver among 2 held for ₹20 crore gold, diamond heist in Madurai; hunt on for key accused Police

An auto driver was among two people arrested on Saturday in connection with the robbery of 11.5 kg gold and diamond jewellery worth over ₹20 crore from a top jewellery showroom in Madurai, a senior police officer said on Sunday.

Police personnel arrive to question suspect Nishanth at his residence in Madakulam on Friday. (ANI Video Grab)The showroom had no locker facility as it was under construction. About 5.6 kg of the jewellery that was buried in a land belonging to one of the accused has been recovered.

Efforts are underway to trace the prime accused and recover the remaining items, the officer added. The theft at the jewellery store came to light on the morning of November 12 when the employees arrived for work and found the items missing from the display counters.

CCTV footage showed a masked man entering the premises from the rear door around 3.30am on November 12. "About 10 kgs of gold and 1.5 kgs of diamond jewels were looted. The value is pegged to be over ₹20 crore,” the officer cited above said, seeking anonymity.

Another footage showed the man escaping on a two-wheeler with the items from the spot. During the course of investigation, the police identified the man as Nishanth, the prime accused in the case. Special teams were subsequently found to trace the accused.

On Saturday, the police arrested Nishanth’s partner and his father from the outskirts of the city for their alleged involvement in the theft. "Both the father and the woman were arrested. We are searching for the prime accused Nishanth, who is absconding,” a second officer said, also seeking anonymity.

The woman, the officer added, told the police that some of the jewels were buried in her land. “Late on Saturday, police teams took her to the land and recovered about 5.6kg of jewels from there,” the officer said. Investigations revealed Nishanth visited the showroom two-three times as a customer, the police said.

"He visited as a customer for two-three days in different clothes, but wore the same cap. This led the officials to zero in on him," the second officer said. The police also found that on the day of the robbery, the accused climbed onto the terrace of the jewellery outlet using scaffolding put up for construction work behind the showroom.

"From the space provided for the lift shaft, he entered the showroom and escaped after stealing the jewels around 3.30 am,’ the second officer said. Madurai city police commissioner S Rajendran said about 30% of the jewellery at the showroom were stolen.

There was no locker facility as it was still under construction, the accused looted the jewels kept at the display counters, he said. A case has been registered at the S S Colony police station and nine special teams headed by assistant commissioners have been formed to nab the key accused.

The police said it has also collected the details of the employees and the workers engaged in the construction activities behind the showroom, to ascertain if they played any role in the theft.