BHUBANESWAR: Unknown miscreants dug a 10-feet-long tunnel from a drain to enter a jewellery store at Jatni on the outskirts of the city, on Saturday night, and allegedly decamped with gold ornaments worth over Rs 15 lakh. The robbery came to light on Sunday. Police sources said this was the first time that thieves used such a modus operandi for robbery in the state."We found that the miscreants drilled a giant hole from the drain to the jewellery store. The drain is right in front of the store. The thieves removed the floor tiles and entered the store. We are trying to trace the accused," deputy commissioner of police Anup Kumar Sahoo told TOI.Police suspect that the robbers might have conducted a reconnaissance trip before carrying forward this unconventional method of robbing. The locks of the store appeared intact. Police said the small tunnel was dug on Saturday night itself.The jewellery store closed its doors at around 8 pm on Saturday. "We suspect the thieves took advantage of heavy rain in the night. The market was completely empty and darK," Pramod Mahakud, a local shopkeeper said.Jewellery store owner, Mahesh Santada, said he was in shock. "When I opened the locks and entered, I found a huge hole on the floor and ornaments missing," Santada said.Police are likely to struggle in cracking the case as the CCTV cameras of the store were defunct. "We are trying to find out if the market had any CCTV cameras," DCP Sahoo said.

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