PPE-clad thieves clean Nashik ICICI Home Finance locker of Rs 5 cr gold jewellery

Nashik (Maharashtra), May 6 (IANS) In a sensational operation, at least two thieves, one shrouded in a PPE kit, broke into the locker hold of the ICICI Home Finance Co. Ltd Nashik branch and scooted off with gold jewellery worth around Rs 4.93 crore, police said here on Monday.

The theft is believed to have happened around midnight of Friday-Saturday but came to light late on Saturday evening when a bank official had gone to the locker room to deposit a customer’s valuables, said Sarkarwada Police Station’s woman Investigating Officer, declining to be identified.

“From the CCTV footage, there were at least two thieves who broke into the strong room of the branch, of whom one was wearing a PPE kit and the other had his face covered. A third accomplice was waiting outside the branch. They have broken into one main locker where many customers’ gold jewellery and other valuables were stored,” she told IANS.

As per investigations, the locker contained the valuables of at least 222 customers comprising a total estimated 1.34 kgs of gold ornaments with an approximate value of Rs 4.93 crore, which are missing, said the IO, even as the crime sent shockwaves in the company and the customers.

Following a complaint by the ICICI-HFC, she said that the police have swung into action, and formed multiple teams of the local police and crime branch unit, to investigate the case and trace out the three unidentified desperadoes seen in the CCTV footage.

The ICICI-HFC branch is situated on the third floor of the Indira Heights business complex of the busy thoroughfare known as Gangapur Naka with heavy traffic and crowded with people.

Despite repeated attempts, ICICI-HFC officials or ICICI Bank authorities were not available for comments on the matter even as police have tightened patrolling in the Gangapur Naka vicinity.