The Rs 25 crore jewellery heist that shocked Delhi was planned and executed by just one man – a Chhattisgarh native named Lokesh Srivas.
The Rs 25 crore jewellery heist that shocked Delhi was planned and executed by just one man, despite the fact that it looked like the sophisticated handiwork of a gang of criminals. Lokesh Srivas, a 32-year-old from Chhattisgarh, was arrested on Friday morning in Chhattisgarh in connection with the robbery of a jewellery shop in Delhi’s Bhogal area.
The theft of Umrao Jewellers in Delhi’s Bhogal area has been called the biggest such robbery in the national capital. During investigation, it was revealed that Srivas reached Delhi from Chhattisgarh earlier this month, travelling alone on a bus. He did a recce of the area and realised that the jewellery shop remains shut on Mondays.
On Sunday night, he entered the shop through the terrace of an adjoining building and camped out inside for hours, before leaving on Monday with gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs 20-25 crore and some cash.
Police investigating the case were surprised to see the planning that went into the heist – besides stealing all the jewellery on display, the robber also used a gas cutter to enter the strong room and stole jewellery from there as well. He spent 15-20 hours inside the shop before decamping on Monday with around 30kg of jewellery and Rs 5 lakh cash.
After the robbery, he took a bus back to Chhattisgarh from Delhi’s ISBT.
Catching a criminal
The Delhi jewellery heist was not Srivas’s first brush with crime – he was wanted by Chhattisgarh Police for a string of robberies in the state. In fact, his most recent robbery in Chhattisgarh took place on August 25, just days before he left for Delhi.
In Delhi, police examined footage from hundreds of CCTV cameras “which revealed that a suspect carrying a backpack was found entering the adjoining building around 10.45pm on September 24. The same suspect could be seen leaving the building around 5pm on September 25,” said Rajesh Deo, DCP (southeast), to Times of India.
Police searched online and came across a similar picture of a man arrested in Chhattisgarh for robbing a house of Rs 3.5 crore.
Meanwhile, an associate of Srivas named Shiva Chandravanshi was arrested by Chhattisgarh Police. He told cops that his friend had carried out a ‘big’ theft in Delhi.
Acting on this tip-off, a joint team from Delhi and Chhattisgarh reached Bhilai, where Srivas lived in a rented accommodation. When he reached his place around 5.45 am on Friday, he was chased and arrested. Stolen jewellery was recovered from his place.