HYDERABAD, May 16: Burglars stole diamonds and jewellery worth up to 100 million rupees (2.2 million dollars) in a well-planned heist in southern India, police said on Tuesday. The burglars managed to rob the upmarket jewellery store in the city of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh state, without triggering alarms and alerting security guards, police said.

“The initial estimates are that the stolen jewellery was worth 90 to 100 million rupees,” a senior police official said.

Police said the robbers broke into the Alukkas shop in the early hours of Tuesday by forcing open the main back door and drilling holes into others so they could reach through and unlock them.

The burglars discovered the loot in an area without a security alarm. The jewellery was normally kept in another room with alarms, police said.

The security guards were unaware of the burglary until the shop opened in the morning.

Police have deployed forensic teams, explosives squad and sniffer dogs to investigate.

—AFP