Series of security lapses led to burglary at Tanishq showroom in Madurai

Police personnel conduct an inquiry at the newly opened Tanishq showroom, where a burglary occurred earlier this week | Photo Credit: G. Moorthy

A series of security lapses by those manning the newly inaugurated Tanishq showroom in Madurai led to the nocturnal burglary of gold and diamond jewellery worth several crores, which went unnoticed for a while, on the intervening night of Wednesday (November 11, 2026) and Thursday (November 12).

While many jewellery showrooms adopt the practice of emptying their showcases and securing the valuables inside safety lockers after working hours, in this showroom, the ornaments were left in the display cases, even during the night, as the locker facility was still under construction.

This allowed a lone burglar to lay his hands on the valuables without much difficulty.

Alarm switched off

The biggest lapse was the failure to turn on the anti-burglary alarm that could have alerted officials about the intruder in the dead of the night.

“The log showed that the alarm was switched off on Wednesday morning as the employees reported for duty. It should have been switched on again [on Wednesday night] before the employees locked the shutters,” the Commissioner of Police, S. Rajenthiran, said.

The police were also critical of the urgency with which the showroom was inaugurated, even as construction work on the building was incomplete.

The showroom operator had wanted to commence sales before Deepavali to tap the potential of the festive season.

However, the incomplete work left the iron scaffolding intact on the outside wall even as high-value ornaments were kept in the showroom.

“It is the scaffolding that had facilitated the burglar in gaining quick and easy access to the terrace of the tall, three-storey building,” the Commissioner added.

The officials also failed to take note of the vulnerability posed by an opening near the terrace, through which someone could easily sneak into the lift shaft. The burglar had breached it with ease by removing some screws, the police said.

Second attempt

The entire burglary was made possible because the two security personnel deployed on night duty had failed to secure the scaffolding. Their negligence had emboldened the burglar to make a second attempt to enter the showroom using the same scaffolding this week, after his first burglary bid on November 5, the police said.

“Even during the first attempt, the burglar’s movement was caught by cameras in the CCTV network, but it had not been noticed by the showroom officials,” a police officer said.

The first burglary attempt came to light only after the police started to play back the CCTV video recordings following the actual burglary on the intervening night of November 11 and 12. Had the showroom officials noticed the security breach on November 5 the next working day, the second attempt could have been prevented, the police officer said.

Published - November 14, 2026 02:00 pm IST