Thief returns jewellery to ‘awaken’ India
Stolen jewellery worth $89514 returned to police with thief claiming he wanted to highlight security loopholes.
A poor mason committed a daring burglary from Tanishq, India’s premier jeweller in the southern city of Hyderabad, only to surrender and return the gold and gems to police saying his theft was to awaken society.
Kiran, the thief, robbed gold and gemstone jewellery weighing 15.57 kg on Saturday night. Police said the gold and jewels robbed were worth Rs 5.98 crore ($ 89514) while the Tanishq management estimated the missing gold to be worth Rs 23 crore ($ 367648).
The jewellery showroom is in Panchagutta area in the capital city of Hyderabad, a high-security zone where offices of the chief minister and several other jewellers are located.
The robber and his cousin Anand, afflicted with polio, began with a recce of the shop and used a hammer and screwdriver to initially break a portion of the rear wall of the showroom which is heavily guarded.
Emboldened that their initial dent in the wall was not noticed they entered the shop after drilling a hole in the wall on Saturday night and robbed the showroom.
As news of the heist flashed across local TV channels and police began the hunt chasing leads across neighbouring states, Kiran said he was unable to bear the heat and gave himself up.
Kiran had initially surrendered before a local media house and told reporters his theft was meant to “expose security loopholes and to awaken society”.
Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anurag Sharma told reporters that upon interrogation the mason admitted he wanted money for a course in flying as he wanted to become a pilot. Kiran’s associate, who is absconding, wanted the money to fund his polio surgery.