In One Of UK's Biggest Burglaries, Rs 111 Crore Jewellery Goes Missing

Jewellery valued at 10.4 million pounds (roughly Rs 111 crore), along with designer handbags worth 150,000 pounds (around Rs 1.6 crore) and 15,000 pounds (around Rs 16 lakh) in cash, were stolen from a London house in what is believed to be one of the largest-ever thefts from a home in the United Kingdom.

According to the Metropolitan Police, the thief has been described as a man aged in his late 20s to 30s. He broke into the house on the Avenue Road in St John's Wood in London on December 7 by climbing through a second-floor window, BBC reported.

The owners of the house have announced a reward of 500,000 pounds (roughly Rs 5 crore) for any information leading to the arrest of the suspect in the case. Another reward is on offer of 10 per cent of the value of any of the missing items recovered.

The detectives are searching for the "lone wolf" burglar who broke into the 13-bed house at around 5.11 pm (local time) on December 7 and spent five minutes searching through the rooms before moving down stairs to the first floor, where he discovered the high-value items, The Guardian reported, adding that he escaped via the same second-floor window at around 5.30 pm.

During the 19-minute heist at the 22,000 sq ft mansion in London, the thief somehow managed to break into a safe where he found the jewels, The Guardian added.

The security cameras at the five-storey mansion have captured the suspect, who was armed with a weapon. The footage showed him scouring rooms. His face remained covered throughout.

At the time of the incident, there were eight people on the property, including staff and some members of the family.

According to police, the thief managed to escape with bespoke jewellery valued at 10.4 million pounds, 150,000 pounds worth of Hermes Crocodile Kelly handbags as well as 15,000 pounds in cash in total.

As per The Guardian report, the jewellery items included a Graff 10.73-carat diamond ring, two butterfly diamond rings by De Beers, a Hermes 3.03-carat ring, aquamarine ring and Niloticus Lumiere necklace. Also, items like pink sapphire earrings from Katherine Wang shaped like butterflies were missing from the spot.

The suspect was wearing a dark hoodie, cargo pants and grey baseball cap at the time of incident.

His weapon appeared to be a "small flamethrower or canister of noxious spray," which was meant to incapacitate those he came across. 

In the CCTV, he was seen looking for his weapon every time he heard a noise inside the house, while at one point he even appeared close to bumping into a house help.

Police noted that the stolen items were easily identifiable and have warned people against selling them.