The owner speculated that the thieves gained entry through an adjacent vacant shop.
They drilled a hole in a wall of a shop in a busy market and stole jewellery and cash worth lakhs. Not just jewellery, they also took away the CCTV cameras with them. The real-life heist at a Delhi jewellery store was reminiscent of scenes from the popular Netflix show 'Money Heist' but a real-life heist.
The owner of the shop at Chandni Chowk's Dariba Kalan market got the shock of his life this morning when he saw the ornament showcase was empty.
"This is a very old shop. When I tried to open the shutter this morning, I couldn't, I called a man for help. When he lifted the shutter, he said that all the jewellery on the counter was gone. When the shutter was lifted, I saw the showcase was empty and there was a gaping hole in one of the walls," said Kirit Bhai Soni.
Mr Soni speculated that the thieves gained entry through an adjacent vacant shop, drilling their way into his establishment.
He said that the thieves had made away with nearly Rs 1 lakh cash and 14 kg of silver jewellery.
The traders in the area are shocked at the incident as there is a lot of hustle-bustle at the Dariba Kalan market even at night.
Another shopkeeper insisted that it was a "pre-planned" crime and also highlighted the lack of security arrangements at the market.
"This looks like a pre-planned crime. This couldn't have been done without a recce because they have drilled a hole into the wall and taken away the cameras also," said Deepak Soni.
"There are not many CCTV cameras here (at the market). The ones that are here don't work. There's a security guard also but he is almost always unavailable, he added.
Police have registered a case and said they were scanning the nearby CCTV cameras. The police called forensic experts to aid in the investigation.
A similar incident happened last year when a thief broke into a jewellery store in south Delhi's Jangpura and escaped with ornaments worth crores. He entered the terrace of a four-storey building next to the store, reached the ground floor where the strongroom was located, disconnected CCTV cameras, and drilled a hole into the wall to enter the locker.