Rs 100 Hammer, Rs 1,300 Disc Cutter: Tools Used In Rs 25 Crore Delhi Heist

The individual apprehended in connection with the high-profile heist at a jewelry shop in Jangpur, South Delhi, Lokesh Srivas, had carefully orchestrated the robbery. He strategically purchased a hammer valued at Rs 100 from Delhi’s Chandni Chowk locality and acquired a toolbox containing screwdrivers and pliers to be employed during the theft. He made away with jewelry valued at Rs 25 crore from the jewelry store.

Srivas who was acting independently managed to plan and execute the heist which has been described by the police as the biggest jewellery theft in recent history in the Capital. The police further said that before the robbery, Lokesh Srivas carried out 2 recce missions, one on September 9 and the second on September 17.

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The Heist: Meticulous Planning and Methodical Execution

Apart from the hammer which he bought from Chandni Chowk, he also visited other areas in Delhi to buy other tools. He bought a disc cutter worth Rs 1,300 from GB Road. He already had screwdrivers and pliers with him, according to the police. 

Describing his modus operandi, the police said that Srivas broke into the jewellery store at 11 pm on Sunday from an adjacent building. He was inside the whole night, stealing the jewellery kept on display and then moved to the strongroom. He had already disconnected the CCTV cameras in the shop. According to the police, breaching the strongroom was the most crucial step for the thief. 

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The Strongroom Breach: Intricate Entry and Looting

The police said that after entering the 4-storey building, he reached the ground floor which houses the strongroom. He used a driller to make a hole in the strongroom wall to easily lay his hands on the gold ornaments.  

Lokesh was arrested on Friday morning by the Bilaspur Police. Another thief in Chhattisgarh gave away the secret, when he told police that a man had committed a major robbery in Delhi and just returned to Bilaspur. It was then that Srivas was caught. 

Lokesh had stayed at a guest house in Chandni Chowk from September 21 to September 24. The police managed to track his phone, which he had switched on at the Kashmere Gate Metro station on Monday. When police scanned the CCTV footage of the bus stop, they spotted Lokesh carrying 2 bags and buying a ticket at 8:40 pm on Monday.