Bengaluru: Nearly 50 days after a daring Rs 18-crore heist at a realtor’s residence near Marathahalli, city police are still struggling to crack the case, with the four-member Nepalese gang believed to be behind the meticulously planned theft leaving virtually no trace.Investigators say the accused executed the burglary with striking precision. Police teams were even sent to Nepal and conducted inquiries there for nearly three weeks, but found no evidence that the suspects had entered the country after the Jan 25 robbery. Officers now suspect that the gang may still be hiding somewhere in India.The theft took place at the home of Shimanth S Arjun, a realtor living on Kempapura Main Road in Yemalur, in the city’s tech corridor. According to investigators, the prime suspects — Dinesh and Kamala, initially believed to be a couple — along with two accomplices, broke open cupboards and escaped with an enormous haul: 11.5 kg of gold and diamond jewellery, 5 kg of silver ornaments worth Rs 14.6 lakh, and Rs 11.5 lakh in cash.The burglars struck in broad daylight while the family had stepped out to attend a relative’s bhoomi puja. Dinesh and Kamala had joined the household as domestic helps barely a fortnight before the theft, quietly studying the layout of the house and the family’s routines. Police believe the duo conducted a careful reconnaissance before executing the plan.Reconstructing the sequence of events, investigators said Kamala seized the opportunity when the family stepped out. She lured the household cook, Ambika, away from the house by claiming she needed to buy tablets for headache and persuaded her to accompany her to a nearby supermarket. While the two were away, Dinesh and his accomplices slipped into the house, broke open cupboards, and ransacked the rooms in search of valuables before escaping with the massive haul.When Ambika returned home, she was shocked to find the house in disarray. She immediately alerted her employer — but by then Kamala had vanished.No digital trail, no ID details Although police were initially confident of quickly nabbing the accused, the investigation soon ran into unexpected hurdles. The suspects appear to have left almost no digital trail behind. Investigators say the gang avoided using mobile phones, debit or credit cards, or any form of online transaction after the heist, making it extremely difficult to track their movements.Even the phone numbers provided to the local agency through which the two suspects were hired have since been switched off. The last known location of those numbers was traced to Marathahalli. Complicating matters, the homeowner had not collected any identity proof or Aadhaar details from the two suspects when hiring them barely 20 days before the theft, leaving investigators with almost no verified information about their identities. Police were able to trace the suspects’ movements up to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai three days after the heist, but the trail ran cold after that. Investigators also checked records of people crossing into Nepal through five border points in Uttar Pradesh after Jan 25, but none of the entries matched the suspects’ profiles.While officials remain hopeful of apprehending the accused, they admit that the suspects’ meticulous planning, the absence of documentation, and their deliberate avoidance of leaving any digital footprint have made this one of the most challenging residential burglary investigations the city police have faced in recent years.
