Mysuru, 19 Jan

Mysuru district police have cracked an inter-state dacoity case involving the theft of gold jewellery worth Rs 10 crore from a jewellery showroom in Hunsur within two weeks of the crime.

Two accused have been arrested in Bihar and are being brought to Mysuru, while a search is on for eight more suspects. The case was solved by five special investigation teams comprising 50 police personnel, under the supervision of IGP (Southern Range) MB Boralingaiah, with assistance from the Bihar Police and Special Task Force (STF).

Superintendentof Police Mallikarjuna Baladandi said the arrested men are Rishikeshkumar Singh of New Delhi and the prime accused, Pankajkumar Singh of Bhagalpur, Bihar, who allegedly planned the robbery. Pankaj Kumar has multiple criminal cases, including murder and theft, registered across Karnataka, Bihar, Jharkhand and Rajasthan. Rishikesh Singh is also a repeat offender with several cases in Bihar.

The robbery took place on 28 December, when armed robbers stormed the Sky Gold and Diamonds showroom in broad daylight and fled within four minutes.

Police recovered some gold ornaments, Rs 1 lakh in cash and a stolen motorcycle. The accused had stayed in Hunsur and Periyapatna lodges using fake Aadhaar cards.