JEDDAH, 12 July — More than 70 kilos of gold and thousands of riyals in cash were stolen from a leading jewelry showroom in Makkah in the early hours of Wednesday, Al-Nadwa reported yesterday.
The loss in kind is worth SR3 million while SR43,000 in cash was also missing from Abdul Ghani Saegh Jewelry on Hafaiyiz street. The burglars installed a tent between the shop and the road as a cover to their operation in which advanced devices were used to break open the door of the shop without drawing the attention of people in nearby houses.
The burglary was first noticed by one of the showroom workers who came to the shop as usual in the morning. He noticed the side door of the shop open. He immediately called in the police.
The legal representative of the jewelry, Hamid Mahmoud Al-Solieman, said he rushed to the showroom on hearing about the burglary to find that it was empty of all its precious wares except some cheap items.
The loss of jewels and precious metal is roughly estimated at SR3 million though stock is being checked to get a precise picture of the loss, he said. He had no suspects in the crime, he added.
All workers at the shop were interrogated by the police while the location of the theft has been examined by the police and criminal investigation experts led by the director of Jarval police, Col. Mansour Al-Mahmadi. The police have also alerted all the land, sea and air outlets to look for the stolen articles from being smuggled out of the country.
The burgled shop was fitted with advanced safety devices such as very sensitive burglar alarm system, said Ridwan Saegh, chairman of the Abdul Ghani Saegh. The thieves, who apparently used some ingenious method, deactivated the alarm system and erected a tent to conceal the operation and keep the noises low, he said.
Police reportedly failed to trace the culprits in a years-old burglary at another branch of the Saegh 1.5 km away from the location of the present crime, according to Okaz. At the time thieves used an air-duct to break into the shop.
