BHOPAL: Two 18-year-old youths were arrested for looting ornaments worth Rs 16.17 lakh from a jewellery showroom in Rau area of in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district on December 22.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Indore Zone-1) Krishna Lalchandani said the two youths were childhood friends and had rented a flat together in Rau area. One youth worked part-time as graphic designer for a premier IT company in Indore, while the other was preparing for NEET.

After the boy lost his part-time job, the two of them were unable to handle expenses including rent. Put under severe financial pressure, the two youths planned a heist inspired by Bollywood film Bunty Aur Babli.

"Last month, the duo went to a jewellery showroom on the pretext of buying a ring, during which they did a detailed recce of the shop. They tried to execute their burglary plans multiple times, but had returned empty handed due to police presence," the DCP said.

On December 22 night, they managed to enter the shop through the terrace of a house in the neighbouring building. As the house was vacant then, their plans were carried out with ease.

The DCP said, "After registering a case of burglary, police scanned the CCTV grabs of cameras installed near the shop, which revealed that one of the masked burglars climbed down into the shop via the terrace."

The DCP added that the police got a picture of the car used in the burglary.

"Further investigation took the cops to the vehicle’s original owner in Mandla district, who said informed that the vehicle was sold it to some youths in Indore. On being questioned, the youngsters to whom the car was sold revealed that the vehicle was taken from them by two friends on the night of the burglary," the DCP said.

After the successful burglary, the two youths–a boy and a girl–had left Indore.

The police finally caught the duo on December 26 from Bhopal and brought them to Indore.

"The duo finally confessed to having committed the crime and all looted items were recovered. They said they had tried to sell the burgled ornaments, but couldn’t get the right price, after which they decided to sell it after returning from their home district, post-Christmas," Lalchandani said.