Rupees forty-five lakhs diamond heist in Rajkot

A theft of rough and polished diamonds worth Rs45 lakh was detected in Rajkot city on Saturday morning, police said.

The theft took place at Sahajanand Exports, a diamond cutting unit on the outskirts of the city.
 
"The unit was closed for the last one week due to Janmashtami festival. When it reopened after the festival, the manager noticed that someone had tried to force his way into the unit premises," said RV Vaja, police inspector, Bhaktinagar police station, who is investigating the case.

 "It looks as if some veteran criminals are behind this theft. They broke at least four locks before reaching the vaults. They cut the vaults using electronic or gas cutter. They must've been here for a long time," Vaja said.

The unit is located near Kothariya Village on the Rajkot-Porbandar national highway. It is owned by Vithal Patel, a resident of Navsari.

Patel said he had closed for Janmashtami holidays on August 19 itself though the festival was on August 22.

 "We reopened the unit on Saturday morning. The manager observed that some of the locks on the office premises were broken. So he informed us and after taking stock of the diamonds, we registered a complaint with the police," Patel said.