Burglars steal Rs 8 lakh from two shops

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 11

Thieves have struck at two stores in Model Town and Sahnewal and took away about Rs 8 lakh in cash and valuables.

In the first theft, burglars broke into a garment store and decamped with cash and other valuables worth about Rs 7 lakh last night. The theft took place at the Colours N Tones store located on Deep Hospital Road, Model Town.

The incident came to light when the store was opened this morning. The thieves also broke down the digital video recorder (DVR) of CCTV cameras and took the hard disk, on which all videos were stored, with them.

It was learnt the thieves entered the two-storey store after breaking the rooftop door. Then they broke another door and went down stairs.

The store owner, Jaspal Singh, claimed that the thieves reached the rooftop of the store from a building under construction next to the store. He said: “We closed our shop last night at 10:30 pm. When we opened the store this morning, we found that cash and many branded articles including ties, belts and suits have been stolen. We also found a broken DVR that was installed at a hidden location in the store.”

“They have stolen around Rs 2.5 lakh in cash and articles worth lakhs of rupees. Our store was opened just six months ago. As our CCTV cameras were equipped with online watch facility, we are trying to check if any recording is available online.”

A team of experts took fingerprints from the spot. Model Town SHO Kamaldeep Singh said: “We have registered an FIR and investigation is under way.”

Meanwhile, the Sahnewal police have booked an unidentified person under Section 457 and 380 of the IPC for stealing Rs 5.33 lakh in cash and the digital video recorder of the CCTV cameras installed at the shop. In his complaint, garments shop owner Santosh Kumar said he had closed the shop at 7 pm on December 5. He found the lock broken in the morning.