A heist, a power outage & two calls : Trapped inside jewellery and surrounded by local residents, thieves dial 112 for Gujarat ‘police help’

In the early hours of Thursday morning, a daring attempted jewellery heist took place in the coastal town of Sanjan, Gujarat. The duo responsible for the crime, Dinesh Sonkar, a 32-year-old resident of Boisar, and Vipin Pathak, a 27-year-old from Nalasopara, broke into BR Jewellery by cutting the lock on the shutter.

As the thieves began to pack valuable ornaments, cash, and other items into their bags, neighbours woke up to the commotion. Simultaneously, a power outage occurred, prompting the locals to emerge from their homes. A friend of the shop owner, Manish Sharma, awoke to the sounds and immediately raised the alarm, drawing the attention of several residents who soon gathered near the store.

Realizing they were surrounded and fearing retaliation from the public, one of the burglars, Sonkar, made two desperate phone calls to the emergency helpline number 112. Recognizing the urgency of the situation, the police team was dispatched to the scene while en route, they received a second call from local residents confirming the burglars' predicament.

Upon arrival, the police found Sonkar and Pathak trapped inside the store, surrounded by an angry crowd. With the shutters down and the burglars fearing for their safety, the accused decided to surrender and were subsequently arrested. Both the accused, who had been residing in Mumbai for the past few years, hailed from Uttar Pradesh and were booked under various sections of the law, including house-breaking, theft, and aiding a criminal.