It was a high-flying wish to become a pilot that drove 23-year-old Bhoomana Kiran to cart away Rs. 5.97 crore worth jewellery from Tanishq showroom in bustling Punjagutta area in the early hours of January 25.
Kiran along with his cousin Anand hatched the plot to burgle the high-profile showroom to meet his pilot course fee expenses.
“Sustained interrogation revealed that Kiran needed Rs. 15 lakh to pay fee for pursuing a pilot course. Anand, who is afflicted by polio, eyed an equal sum for his medical surgery. That drove the duo to burgle the showroom,” Police Commissioner Anurag Sharma said here, after a lion’s share of the booty was recovered on Monday from Kiran’s rented tenement at Rasoolpura following his confession.
He was arrested, while a hunt is on for Anand. Kiran earlier walked into the office of a Telugu TV news channel here late on Sunday night, claiming responsibility for the burglary. Police were initially sceptical about Kiran’s claims that he committed the heist for publicity. Kiran initially claimed that he and his cousin looted the showroom only to expose corruption in society and the glaring loopholes in the security system.
Mr. Sharma said it was Anand, who sneaked into the showroom through a hole drilled in the rear wall and took away 15.57 kilos of gold ornaments and precious stones. Kiran tried to mislead the police stating that he had committed the heist all alone. But eventually, he admitted that Anand was ‘tasked’ to sneak into the showroom. The duo did not want to surrender but was scared of being caught as the media highlighted the offence and the claims of the police that scores of teams were on the lookout for them.
Even disposal of the stolen gold was turning out to be a headache for them. While Anand left Hyderabad with a part of the booty, Kiran stayed back with the remaining jewellery and decided to surrender.
The accused duo hail from Eepuru village in Minukonda mandal of Guntur district. They work as masons and were familiar with electric and plumbing work. They had done a recce of the showroom before committing the burglary. The police are probing if the duo was involved in similar offences earlier.
