IAF Corporal Arrested for Rs 1.5 Crore Jewellery Heist in Ahmedabad
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- An Indian Air Force corporal, Deepak Singh Bhuker, was arrested for a Rs 1.5 crore jewellery robbery in Ahmedabad.
- He allegedly used a stolen service revolver and took elaborate measures to avoid detection, including fake IDs and bandages on his fingers.
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Two years after an armed robbery at a jewellery shop in Manek Chowk, city police arrested an Indian Air Force (IAF) corporal who allegedly carried out the Rs 1.5 crore heist using a stolen service revolver and elaborate measures to avoid detection.
The accused, Deepak Singh Bhuker, 31, currently posted as a corporal with an Air Force unit in New Delhi and originally from Jhajjar district in Haryana, was taken into custody on Thursday after police secured the required legal clearance. Bhuker remains in service.
According to police sources, mounting debt from betting and gambling led him to commit the crime.
The robbery was carried out on July 16, 2024. A masked man entered Soni Himmatmal Shankarlal Jewellers in Manek Chowk armed with a pistol and stole gold chains, gold rings, gold biscuits, silver weighing 10kg, other ornaments and cash with a total value of Rs 1.5 crore. Before escaping, he allegedly shot the shop owner’s father in the leg.
The breakthrough came after police received information linking a service revolver stolen during an unsolved house break-in in Jamnagar to the Manek Chowk robbery. Cops compared CCTV footage and gathered intelligence, which pointed to the accused, who was posted at the Air Force station in Jamnagar at the time the incidents were reported.
A police team led by police sub-inspector VH Rathod travelled to Delhi and apprehended the accused from his unit after due legal procedure. During a search of his barracks, cops recovered the pistol allegedly used in the robbery along with five live cartridges.
Police said the corporal took several steps to conceal his identity. He allegedly used fake Aadhaar cards and mobile numbers to book hotel rooms, wrapped bandages around his fingers to avoid leaving fingerprints, and changed clothes while fleeing. After the robbery, he is said to have travelled in four different autorickshaws to evade surveillance.
Police also linked him to the 2024 Jamnagar house break-in case, in which the service revolver was stolen. His criminal record includes a conviction in a cheque dishonour case in Jamnagar and a prohibition offence.
The recovery of the weapon has helped police solve both the cases, said DCP Zone-3 Rupal Solanki who had received the input about Bhuker.
