Days after a jewellery showroom in south-east Delhi’s Bhogal was looted of valuables worth around ₹25 crore, the alleged mastermind has been arrested from Chhattisgarh along with two of his associates involved in other thefts, the police said on Friday.
Shiva Chandravanshi and Lokesh Rao were arrested from Chhattisgarh’s Kabirdham district on Thursday, while the prime accused, Lokesh Shrivas, was caught from Bhilai in the Durg district on Friday. All three are residents of Kabirdham’s Kawardha town.
In one of the biggest heists in Delhi, around 30 kg of gold and diamond jewellery, along with ₹5 lakh in cash, was stolen from Umrao Singh Jewellers in Jangpura’s Bhogal on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday.
Police sources said Mr. Shrivas had reached the showroom by climbing a building adjacent to it and then drilling a hole in the store’s strongroom and stealing the valuables.
Gold, cash recovered
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South East) Rajesh Deo said police teams from Chhattisgarh and Delhi are yet to segregate the recovered items.
Superintendent of Police (Bilaspur) Santosh Singh said, “So far, 18.5 kg of gold, ₹12.5 lakh in cash, and diamonds, whose value is yet to be estimated, have been recovered from Shrivas. From Chandravanshi, the police have recovered jewels and cash worth ₹23 lakh and an SUV.”
According to Mr. Singh, the district police had been searching for Mr. Shrivas and his associates while probing the burglaries at five shops each on August 19 and August 25 in Bilaspur city. After analysing the footage of over 300 CCTV cameras and receiving a tip-off, Mr. Shrivas was traced to his residence in Kawardha with his associates, the SP told The Hindu.
“A team of local police and the Anti-Crime and Cyber Crime Unit conducted a raid and nabbed Chandravanshi and Rao from the house, but Shrivas escaped from a window,” he added.
The DCP said Mr. Chandravanshi was interrogated by Bilaspur Police. While Mr. Chandravanshi’s involvement in the Bhogal burglary is being probed, Mr. Shrivas was confirmed to be the mastermind of the heist, Mr. Deo added.
“Using open source intelligence, the photograph of this accused was matched with the features of the suspect who was seen entering the building adjoining the Bhogal showroom. We already had traced Shrivas’ exit to Bhilai as he had booked a bus from ISBT Kashmere Gate. Based on this information and inputs from the Bilaspur Police, we dispatched a team on Thursday evening,” he said.
Following Mr. Chandravanshi’s inputs, police teams from Bilaspur and Delhi reached the rented accommodation where Mr. Shrivas was hiding, the DCP said. “Around 5.45 a.m. on Friday, Shrivas showed up and was arrested.”
Mr. Singh said the accused are involved in at least 14 cases of theft in Bilaspur and many others across Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha.
While Mr. Rao has been handed over to Secunderabad Police in Telangana, where he is an accused in some cases, Mr. Deo said the other two accused are in the custody of Chhattisgarh Police.
“We are hoping to recover more items and working to trace the network, and find more associates,” the SP said.
