Burglars hit jackpot, but run out of luck

NT Correspondent

Two petty thieves had recently burgled the house of a city-based businessman and made way with cash and valuables worth around Rs 2 crore. Though they were soon caught by the police, the businessman is now being questioned by Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate officials regarding the source of such a huge sum.

The robbery happened at the house of Sandeep Lal, a resident of Kumaraswamy Layout and the accused have been identified as Sunil Kumar, 35, a resident of Subramanyapura and Dileep, 23, from Magadi.

“While in jail, Sunil and Dileep, both habitual offenders, met each other and soon became friends,” police said. Both the accused had been under debt of Rs 2 lakh after being granted bail recently. “The duo resorted to burglary and selected the house of Lal which was locked for a couple of days,” police added.

“On March 28, the accused entered the house and searched for valuables, instead they found two sacks filled with cash. Shocked, they escaped the house carrying both the sacks,” a senior police official said.

It was revealed that Sandeep Lal had been to Chennai and his father Mohan Lal filed a complaint with the jurisdictional police. According to the complaint, Rs 1.76 crore in cash and gold ornaments weighing 188 grams were stolen from the house.

During the interrogation, the duo stated to the police that initially they had plotted to steal Rs 2 lakh in order to clear their debt. But seeing the huge amount of cash, they were stunned and fled with the money.

Police said the accused had purchased jewellery worth Rs 25 lakh.