The police arrested a 19-year-old school dropout for allegedly breaking into a silver ornament shop by drilling through its wall and decamping with valuables worth ₹12.50 lakh.

The accused, identified as Teja, a resident of Shankarapuram in Tamil Nadu, allegedly used a wall-cutting machine to create an opening in the wall of a shop located on Car Street in Halasuru on April 29. He then entered the premises and stole around 10 kg of silver ornaments before fleeing.

Following a complaint, the Halasuru police registered a case and launched an investigation.

By analysing CCTV footage and gathering local intelligence, the investigators identified Teja as the prime suspect and apprehended him from Shankarpuram on May 20.

During interrogation, Teja allegedly confessed to the crime. He was produced before a court and taken into police custody for 20 days for further questioning.

The police said the accused had previously visited Bengaluru to meet a relative and noticed the old shop during one such visit. He later planned the theft, purchased a wall cutter, and targeted the premises at night, taking advantage of the ageing cement-brick structure.

The investigation further revealed that Teja had sold the stolen silver ornaments to a jewellery shop in Madanur, Tamil Nadu. Acting on his disclosure, the police recovered five kg of the stolen silver ornaments from the shop on June 1.