On film, the hole in the wall gang who swiped jewels worth £1.8million
THIS is the moment an audacious gang of thieves stole gold and gems worth £1.8 million from a jewellery store.
The hooded men made off with a haul of diamond necklaces, bracelets, pendants and earrings after tunnelling into the business.
The trio spent more than three hours inside the shop after using a sledgehammer and crowbar to make a hole in a rear wall. CCTV showed them crawling around inside, as they stuffed a rucksack with valuables and pushed boxes across the floor with a mop.
One of the men can be seen clearly with a hoodie drawn up around his face, sprawled on his front as he pulls jewellery out of drawers.
Police believe three other men watched the premises from 5pm the previous day and another two also acted as lookouts.
They were caught on camera loitering outside Joyalukkas in Forest Gate, East London, as the owners locked up. The business is part of an international chain which describes itself as ‘ the world’s favourite jeweller’.
Its ambassador is Bollywood actress Kajol Devgan, and it claims to have 10 million customers.
The thieves are believed to have escaped over a wall into a builders’ yard behind the shop between 3am and 6.40am on July 10.
The heist echoes the tactics of the gang who raided a safe deposit company in London’s Hatton Garden, making off with valuables worth millions. The men spent two nights tunnelling through a concrete wall over the 2015 Easter weekend before carting off a haul of gemstones, gold and cash in wheelie bins.
The grainy black and white CCTV footage of the Joyalukkas break-in shows one man leaning through the freshly smashed hole.
He pushes a rucksack through and appears to ‘ catch’ jewels pushed across the floor by a seated accomplice wielding a mop between his legs. It is believed the pair were trying to keep low to avoid the CCTV camera or triggering an alarm.
Before the raid, two men, one wearing a black anorak and the second a bright red jacket, were caught on CCTV outside the business. The burly pair are suspected of acting as look-outs.
A third man, aged in his 20s and wearing a blue T-shirt and shorts, was seen loitering outside the business as its owners locked up. Det Chief Insp Andy Pallett, of Newham CID, said: ‘This was a meticulously planned and audacious raid on a jewellery shop with £1.8 million of items stolen.
‘While we think it only took the suspects around 20 minutes to make the hole, it must have been noisy work and we would appeal for anyone who heard or saw anything suspicious to contact us.’
Police are appealing for information from anyone who may have seen the men.