The Hyderabad Heist - Sharmishta Shenoy

Sharmishta Shenoy is a prolific writer in the crime-detective genre. Her Vikram Rana series is quite popular. Here she tells the tale of a real heist, a daring one, where the Nizam's jewels were stolen from the Nizam's musuem in Purani Haveli, Old City. The Hyderabad Police cracked the case in 10 days.

The heist at the Nizam's museum on Sptember 3, 2018 is considered India's biggest museum theft - a gold tiffin encrusted with diamonds etc and a gold cup and spoon. The story begins with a vlogger Gaurav and his girlfriend Pia discovering the theft as the first visitors to the museum, the following melee, the police, led by Commissioner Anjani Kumar getting into action. They find that someone had entered the museum through a ventilator, came in with the help of a rope, took the pieces away and vanished. CCTV footage, interrogations of many people etc went on but not much headway. 

Turned out that two petty thieves - Khooni Badshah (not because he killed people but because he ate raw meat) and his accomplice Ghulam, decided to make a big killing. Ghulam recceed the museum, enrolled the jailbird Badshah and they pulled off the stunt easily and vanished - entering the museum from the terrace which they accessed from a neighbouring building. It was that easy.

Off they went trying to sell it in Mumbai, came back when they found the going too hot, and then Badshah, with his hotheadedness made a mistake and told a friend of his who promptly informed the police. And that is it. What is interesting is that apparently the Mona Lisa was once stolen by a walk in carpenter and was missing for a while until he tried to sell it and got caught.

Commissioner Anjani Kumar plays a stellar role in the book - he is the hero - as is his team. Interesting story. I found it interesting that two people I met or saw recently figured in the book - architect Anuradha Naik and Serish Nanisetty - both of whom I met/saw at the HLF. Now to go visit this museum which I never have.  Nicely written by Sharmishta who tells the story well.