Burglars decamp with watches worth Rs. 1 crore

While there were scores of costlier watches of noted brands like Tag Heuer in the shop, the offenders took away Rado and Longines watches that were kept in six racks in the front portion of the shop

A policeman examines the scene of crime after robbers decamped with luxury watches from a store at Banjara Hills on Friday- Photo: Mohammed Yousuf

In a sensational heist in recent times, thieves on Friday made off with 242 Rado and Longines wrist watches worth over Rs. 1 crore from Kamal watch store at Punjagutta.

There were scores of costlier watches of noted brands like Tag Heuer in the shop, but the offenders took away Rado and Longines watches that were kept in six racks in the front portion of the shop. They sneaked inside by lifting the steel shutter.

Surprisingly, there were no signs of forcible entry. “We suspect the burglars removed screws of the shutter’s lock in the centre and managed to lift it up,” West Zone DCP G. Sudhir Babu said after examining the shop located on the NFCL-GVK mall stretch.

The burglars collected keys of the racks - five of them displaying 176 Rado watches - around the reception counter and those with Longines watches on the opposite side, from a cupboard.

“It requires expertise to remove the watches from the rack. Even the slightest mishandling breaks them. This suggests someone who had earlier worked in a watch shop could be behind this,” a staffer at the shop said.

Police were hopeful of finding crucial evidence in the form of video footage as the shop had some high-end night vision cameras inside. However, no footage was recorded as the staff had switched off power supply while closing it the previous night.

The shop, located on a ground-plus-first floor building, has a watchman, but he was absent on Thursday night owing to ill health.