In CCTV images lie clues to sensational Rs 1.2-cr gold theft in Bangalore hotel

The jewellery was stolen from room 217 at the hotel,when its two occupants,Vijay Saini Doorwala and his assistant Nitin both employees of Agarwals were out to dinner at the hotel restaurant around 7.30 pm.

When Doorwala and Nitin returned,they found their room had been broken into and the jewellery gone. Agarwal had left the hotel earlier in the day to return to Jaipur.

On the basis of pictures captured by CCTV cameras installed at the hotel entrance,lobby and restaurant,Bangalore Police have zeroed in on three suspects who they believe carried out the heist,possibly with some insider help.

Top officers who made portions of the footage available,said the suspects arrived at the hotel around 5 pm and hung around the lobby and restaurant. They disappeared from the view of the cameras after the occupants of room 217 came down for dinner,and were captured again on camera leaving the hotel around 8 pm. They tipped the hotel security guard Rs 100,top police sources said.

Police suspect that the heist was carried out by someone whom the jewellers were familiar with,or had visited the jewellery exhibition and had tracked the owners to the hotel.

We are hoping to solve the case in a day or two. The CCTV footage has been a key source of information though cameras in the hotel corridors were not functioning, a senior officer said.

Bangalore Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari said his office has repeatedly asked all business establishments to install CCTV cameras as a security measure. Many had complied,but many were yet to install security cameras,he said.

State of the art CCTV surveillance systems with appropriate command,control and communication system should be installed to cover all public areas in a hotel, the Bangalore Police said in a handbook on security at hotels issued recently.