Thieves broke open the shutters of three shops and decamped with items worth around Rs 9 lakh from two stores at Siddhartha Market in the heart of the city in the small hours of Wednesday.

Though police said the theft could have been committed after 2am, residents of the area detected the incident around 6 in the morning.

The owners of the three shops — Manish Bhandari of Indradhanush Digital Studio, Vijay Kumar of Vijay Enterprises and Ashok Dhodhi of Raj Electric — lodged a joint FIR with the Civil Lines police station.

The stolen items included tubular batteries used in inverters, digital cameras, battery chargers, memory cards, laptops and a colour printer.

According to the FIR, the criminals decamped with 10 compact cameras worth around Rs 70,000, two SLR cameras worth around Rs 90,000, pencil batteries, battery chargers and memory cards worth around Rs 22,000, a mini laptop worth around Rs 20,000 and Rs 8,400 from Indradhanush Digital Studio.

From the godown of Vijay Enterprises, the thieves took away 50 tubular batteries worth around Rs 12,600 each. The criminals also broke three locks of Raj Electric, but could not steal anything as the shutter was bolted from inside.

After the locals raised an alarm, senior superintendent of police Vinay Kumar, city superintendent of police (SP) Babu Ram, city deputy superintendent of police Rakesh Kumar and Civil Lines police station inspector Nikhil Kumar arrived at the spot and conducted an inquiry.

The city SP has directed the Civil Lines police station inspector to ensure a breakthrough in the incident within 24 hours. Sources said the police have detained three suspected persons for interrogation.

Nikhil said he and Rakesh were patrolling the area till 2am and that the theft might have been committed after their duty was over. Senior police officers said prima facie, it looked like an operation by an organised gang.

The city SP said: “Tyre marks of a vehicle have been found in the interior area of the market. We think the criminals had planned the theft well in advance. “One battery weighs around 60kg. Taking away 50 batteries will not only need time but also manpower,” an investigating officer.

Around a fortnight ago, criminals had broken the shutter locks of two shops in the market but failed to commit theft. The market is located around 100m west of the Civil Lines police station.

On the northern side of the market is the official residence of the Gaya sadar sub-divisional officer.