Thieves steal valuables worth ₹16L from wedding venues in Gurugram

A gang of thieves struck at two wedding venues in Gurugram on Saturday and decamped with cash and jewellery worth ₹16 lakh belonging to the brides, police said on Monday.

According to police, the first incident took place at Sukhrali Community Centre in Sector 17 where the bride’s family had come from Balia in Uttar Pradesh while the second incident took place at Raghav Vatika, Sohna, within an hour where the bride’s family had come from Faridabad.

Police said unedited video recordings of both marriage venues have been sought from the family members to zero in on suspects.

Two FIRs were registered under Section 379 (theft) of Indian Penal Code -- one at Sector 17/18 police station and the other at City Sohna police station -- on Sunday evening on basis of complaints by Rohit Kumar Singh, 26, (bride’s cousin) and Om Prakash Gupta (another bride’s father), respectively.

Police said that Singh’s family lost valuables worth at least ₹10 lakh while Gupta lost valuables worth ₹6 lakh.

In both cases, a suspect hardly 15-year-old was spotted on stage in video recordings of the functions, according to the family members.

Police said they have a suspicion that the same gang is involved in both incidents.

Singh said that his cousin Saumya Singh’s marriage function was organised in Sukhrali. “Theft took place around 7.30pm when the jaimala (garland exchange ceremony) was going on,” he said, adding that the suspect decamped with a bag containing ₹1 lakh cash and diamond and gold jewellery worth about ₹9 lakh.

Singh said his aunt Seema Singh was on the stage with the bag having all the valuables. “A suspect was spotted moving behind his aunt continuously in the video recording of the function,” he said.

Sudhir Kumar, station house officer of Sector 17/18 police station, said there was no CCTV camera at the venue. “We are in touch with the videographer hired by the family for unedited video footage of the function to spot the suspect,” he said.

In the other incident, Gupta, a Faridabad-based businessman, said he was sitting on stage to perform rituals for his daughter Anshika’s marriage when the theft took place around 8.30pm.

“I had a bag beside myself having ₹3 lakh cash and gold jewellery worth ₹3 lakh,” he claimed.

Gupta alleged that a teenager, hardly 15-year-old, was spotted in CCTV footage fleeing with the bag.

“Just before the marriage rituals, another unidentified teenager had entered my daughter’s room at the venue requesting permission to charge his cellphone. I suspect he was a member of the gang conducting the recce,” Gupta alleged.

Umesh Kumar, station house officer of City Sohna police station, said an investigation is on and teams are working to nab the suspects. “Prima facie it appears that a gang of teenagers was involved in the incident. But things would become clear after investigation,” he added.