Close Friend Burgles Goldsmith's Shop In Musheerabad

The Musheerabad police today arrested one Bathula Vijay Kumar, 31, who was involved in a midnight burglary, and recovered 50 tolas of gold ornaments worth Rs 15 lakhs and net cash of Rs 50,000 from his possession.

Police said that the complainant and the accused were close friends residing in Bakaram. The complainant was a gold ornament maker, and also gave loans to customers who mortgaged their gold ornaments at his shop near Wesley Church, Musheerabad.

The accused used to frequently visit the complainant's house-cum-gold-shop and observed large quantity of gold ornaments and cash in the shop. The accused, with an intention to burgle the shop, stole the key of the main door five months back.

Police said that the complainant closed his shop at 11:45 pm on December 2 and left after locking all the doors. Acting to a plan, in the early hours of December 4, the accused disconnected the streetlights and opened the door of the gold shop with the stolen key, and stole gold ornaments and cash.

The accused then went missing from his house. This morning, he returned to his house and fell into the trap of the police. The gold ornaments were discovered concealed in a steel almirah in his house.

The police recovered 128.39 gm of pure gold, bracelets, chains, necklaces, gold bangles and other ornaments worth Rs 15 lakhs and liquid cash of Rs 50,000.