Gujarat: Car jack used to steal 600kg safe

RAJKOT: Call it desperation for money or simply addiction to break-ins! But four burglars did not think about possible injuries to themselves when they stole a safe weighing nearly 600 kg from an auto garage, took it to a nearby field and then hammered it for hours to steal the cash from it.


The incident happened in Parth Automobile Garage located on Limbdi crossroads on the Rajkot-Ahmedabad highway on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday.

Limbdi police and Surendranagar local crime branch cops were also perplexed with the theft that was carried out using garage equipment. Four persons are suspected to be involved.

The burglars broke the shutter of the garage and straight went to the owner’s office located on the first floor inside. Knowing that it was impossible to lift the heavy safe and bring it down, they hit upon an idea of placing a huge tyre around it. After placing the tyre, they pushed the safe from the office, a height of around 10 foot, so that it won’t make a loud noise while crashing on the floor. Then they somehow placed the safe on a hydraulic jack with wheels that’s used to lift the cars and rolled it outside the garage up to a field located just behind. There they placed thick seating cloth beneath the safe and started hammering it. After a few hours, the safe broke and they stole Rs 17.50 lakh cash kept inside, said Dipal Dhol, inspector, Surendranagar LCB.

On Thursday morning, when the garage owner Shailesh Chauhan came there, he realized that burglars had struck. But he was shocked to see that the safe was lying in the field behind. Chauhan told police that ever since the lockdown, he had stopped keeping money in the bank and instead kept all the cash in the safe of his office. On Thursday, he had to pay salaries to his mechanics and workers.

Chauhan’s land deed papers of a plot deal were also missing from the safe, said Dhol. “We suspect there were four persons. We are checking the footage from the CCTVs on the highway to get more clues. Some insider’s role is also not being ruled out,” added Dhol.

Forensic experts have also been roped in for investigation.