Muthoot Finance branch burgled, 70 kg gold looted

The valuables belong to customers who had pawned their jewels in exchange for a loan

A gang burgled a branch of Muthoot Finance Limited situated in Lingarajpuram and made away with 70 kg of gold valuables worth ₹16 crore on Sunday night.

The accused drilled a hole through a washroom adjacent to the office outside the premises, and cut open the iron door of the strong room using gas cutters, the police said.

The incident came to light when the staff came to the office on Monday morning. The office was ransacked and the strong room was empty.

Based on a complaint by Sangeetha G., branch manager, the Pulakeshi Nagar police have taken up a case.

Though the branch has a CCTV camera and burglars alarms, the accused disconnected power supply to the premises before gaining entry. “This shows that the crime was well-planned,” a senior police officer said.

The burgled valuables belong to hundreds of customers who have pawned their jewels in exchange for a loan.

“The firm did not have security personnel despite having a strong room filled with gold valuables belonging to their customers. The building, where the firm was located, has a security guard, but he had gone on leave. We suspect the involvement of insiders who were aware of the security measures,” the officer added.

The neighbours did not find anything suspicion as there was a lot of noise in the neighbourhood throughout the night on account of Christmas. This gave the burglars an opportunity to commit the crime without drawing any attention, the police said.

The police are examining CCTV footage from in and around the area to identify the accused.

Police suspect that more than four persons were involved in the heist going by the drilling machines and gas cutters used to commit the crime, the police said.

The police are also questioning the night beat police personnel of the area.