By Krishna Chaudhary
MEERUT: Police arrested three members of the tunnel gang on Friday for allegedly stealing jewellery worth Rs 15 lakhs by digging a tunnel through the adjacent drain of the shop to gain access to Ambika jewellers in the Nauchandi region of Meerut on March 29.
The accused were identified as Yameen Khan, his brother Shabeel Khan, and his friend Amit Kumar. They are all residents of Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr and used to work as masons and were skilled in construction work, said police.
Rohit Singh Sajwan, SSP city, said, “We reported four similar incidents in the past months, of which one was a successful robbery in which valuables were stolen. After that, a team of over 25 police personnel was constituted to nab them, and they were arrested after being tracked by the surveillance team. Now, police are investigating if the previous three robbery attempts were also committed by the same gang because of the same modus operandi."
"Yameen Khan told the police during questioning that he was in debt so he hatched a plan to rob jewellery shops and was accompanied by his brother Shabeel and associate Amit. Interestingly, they learned the nuances from the internet. All three have criminal records, and we are preparing to book them under the Gangster Act," he added.
Yogendra Singh, surveillance in-charge, told TOI, “The team traced the accused using CCTV footage. They were staying at a rented accommodation in the Lisari Gate region. An e-rickshaw driver, who used to help the accused reach their house, led the cops to their arrest. Their modus operandi was to dig a tunnel on the first night, and use a hydraulic jack to pull out the floor from beneath the next night.”
CO (civil lines) Arvind Chaurasiya, said, “They sold the stolen valuables to a jeweller identified as Lalit Goyal in Gautam Buddh Nagar, who is currently absconding. Police have recovered the tools used in the crime.”
The SSP further said that the accused left a note at the jewellery shop after the crime, seeking forgiveness. “Forgive us. We were compelled to do so. Your floor was very hard,” it read, he added. Sajwan said that in a similar incident in the Partapur region, police found a “sorry” note at the jewellery shop.
Giving details of three unsuccessful robbery attempts, he said, “The first attempt to rob was made at Payal jewellers in Nauchandi region in August 2022, after which the second attempt was made at Deepak jewellers in the Partapur region in February this year, and the third attempt was made at Priya jewellers on March 3 in Nauchandi region.”
