Busy market place in Paharganj. (Express archives) Busy market place in Paharganj. (Express archives)

Two men and a boy robbed a jewellery shop in Paharganj after digging a tunnel from a hotel in the area, where they had checked in, to the showroom, police said on Monday.

The trio had checked into Hotel Hari Piorko, at Tooti Chowk in Paharganj, eight days ago. Police said the tunnel ran from the hotel, went through a paan shop and opened inside the store, Bharat Jewellers.

The incident was reported only on Monday afternoon when the owner of the paan shop discovered the tunnel and raised alarm. Police found the jewellery shop ransacked, with gas-cutters and other objects used in the robbery, lying on the floor.

Police said the robbers, however, could not break open the main locker and decamped with the jewellery items on display inside the store.

A police officer investigating the case said, on March 17, the three had checked into a first-floor room of the hotel, adjacent to the paan shop.

A wall in the room was found to have been broken by the robbers. The owner of the paan shop, Vishal, reportedly told police that till Sunday night, when he left his shop, he had not seen anything amiss.

Police suspect the robbery took place in the early hours of Monday.

It was through the paan shop that they dug the tunnel and entered the jewellery store, a police officer said.

“On Monday, when Vishal went to his shop, he found the roof, connected to the first floor of the hotel, prised open. The wall of his shop, connecting the jewellery store, was also found broken. We are looking into the case and will take the help of CCTV footage,” a senior police officer said.

Police are not ruling out the involvement of locals in the robbery as the robbers were aware that the jewellery store would be closed on Monday.

Police believe the value of the stolen jewellery could be in several lakhs of rupees. The hotel staff told police the three checked out around 5 am on Monday, claiming that they had a train to catch.

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