How an auto driver from Mumbai masterminded a Rs 70 lakh worth gold heist in Bengaluru!

Jewellery stores in residential layouts are the new targets of burglars. For, in yet another case, burglars from Mumbai have been arrested by Bommanahalli police for looting jewellery worth Rs 70 lakh from Pawan Jewellers on Hongasandra Main Road.

The trio - Pradeep Dileep Mole, Praful Chandrakanth Shindhe and Jharkhand Gourang Mandal alias Gopi - had posed as vegetable vendors and taken the house on rent next to the shop. Within a week, they drilled their way to the shop and decamped with gold and silver articles.

In fact, the mastermind behind this act is Praful Chandrakanth Shinde, an auto driver from Mumbai. It is reported that Shindhe would allegedly supply dance girls to various bars and pubs. Shindhe had recently raised a loan from his friends to purchase a flat. But to repay the loan, Shindhe decided to burgle jewellery stores and came to Bengaluru, reports Kannada Prabha.

It is reported that Shindhe along with his friends including the arrested Gopi came to Bengaluru two months ago and had rented a house near Sana Market in Bilekahalli. Later, Shindhe was joined by two more persons who would reportedly survey Madiwala, Koramangala, Bommanahalli and HSR Layout for the possible targets. They reportedly zeroed in on Pawan Jewellers on Hongasandra Main Road as a house next to it was vacant.

Next day, they approached the owner in the guise of fruit vendors to rent the place, next to the jewellery store. They had reportedly told the owner that they would want to shift Hongasandara as it is near to Madiwala Market, where they work. They paid Rs 25,000 towards the house's advance to rent it out, reports Kannada Prabha.

After Praful moved in, he reportedly called in his other friends Gourang and two others. Suspected at the strangers' move, when the owner had asked Praful about them, Praful had stated that they were his friends and they were here for only two days. But the gang had secretly drill the wall to reach the jewellery store. In just two days, the gang had looted two kg gold articles and 20 kg silver ornaments from the shop before leaving the house in the dead of the night.

In fact, the burglary came to light when the shop owner came to the shop and found the CCTV cameras damaged. He complained about the police, who cracked the case with the help of one Raju, an acquaintance of Praful. The police are still on the lookout for three more who had reportedly assisted Praful in his crime.  

• jewellery store heist
• karnataka