Medchal cops arrest 2 in jewellery shop robbery attempt caught on camera

Hyderabad: Medchal police officials have arrested two persons allegedly involved in the jewellery shop robbery attempt, whose video went viral across social media two days ago.

On Thursday, two burqa-clad men were caught on a security camera during their attempt to rob a jewellery shop in Medchal, fortunately foiled by the shop owner’s son.

16 teams analysed footage from 161 CCTVs

To find the accused, 16 teams – under the supervision of CP and DCP Medchal, DCP CCS, DCP SOT, and Cyberabad – meticulously scrutinised footage from 161 CCTVs near the scene of offence and managed to trace the actions and steps of the accused before and after the crime.

The accused have been identified as Nazim Aziz Kotadia (36), Shaik Sohail (36) and Salman. Aziz and Sohail have a criminal history with cases registered in Medchal, Chadharghat, Film Nagar, Kothur, Mailardevpally and others.

Case details

Nazim Aziz Kotadia was born and brought up in Mumbai, Maharashtra. After completing his studies, he travelled to Africa, China and America for job opportunities. His parents stayed in America.

After living in America, he came to Kompally in Hyderabad and got married. He incurred huge business losses in August 2023. Then, Aziz started driving for Rapido to support his family. He even purchased two bikes and hired two drivers. However, he was not getting enough money from Rapido rides and he decided to commit crimes to earn easy money to fulfil his needs.

In one of his earlier crimes, Aziz attacked a person at a jewellery shop in Chaderghat and escaped with the valuables. He was soon arrested and was sent to the Chanchalguda jail.

In jail, he met Sohail and Salman and they planned to commit more crimes once they came out. Once they came out, they made recce of jewellery shops in Cyberabad, Hyderabad and Rachakonda Commissionerate limits. They covered staked and observed jewellery shops in Quthubullapur, Jagadgirigutta, Uppal, Boduppal, Karwan, Borabanda, West Marredpally, Malakpet and Amberpet. They were finally arrested in their robbery attempt in Medchal.

Video of robbery attempt in Medchal goes viral

As part of their plan to rob the jewellery shop in Medchal, on June 17, Sohail and his friend Mohammad stole a Pulsar bike near OU in Habsiguda. Subsequently, they purchased a burqa and a knife.

On June 20, the accused came to Medchal and conducted a recce of the shop on both bikes. After confirming there were no customers in the shop, around 1:40 pm, Aziz and Sohail entered Jagadamba Jewellery Shop. Aziz threatened to kill the owner, stabbed him on the left side of the chest, and attempted to steal the gold ornaments.

Meanwhile, the owner's son was alerted and rushed to rescue his father. The accused escaped from the spot, made a U-turn towards the outskirts of Medchal-Nizamabad, parked the Pulsar motorcycle beside the road, and fled in an auto. On June 22, Aziz and Sohail were arrested at Nampally while they were in front of the railway station. Salman is absconding.

Public appeal to shops

The police asked all the shopkeepers to install government-approved CCTV cameras with high-resolution capabilities, which will be instrumental in detecting and preventing serious crimes. The police asked the shops to:

- Install CCTV cameras inside and outside jewellery shops facing the road.

- Dial 100 in case of emergencies or to provide information and contact nearby police stations.

- Deploy security guards at jewellery shops and install a buzzer system for immediate alerts within the shops.