Jewellery shops in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 8: Twin city police have ticked off jewellery shops for non-cooperation.

To crack the whip on incidents of theft at jewellery shops, the twin city police had requested the owners to provide them with a list of their employees along with their antecedents.

The cops had been prompted to take the step after the involvement of employees was established in the loot of some jewellery shops.

The police, however, say that their call for co-operation has gone unheeded and not a single jewellery storeowner in the city has so far come forward to submit the necessary information.

The police had also asked jewellers to install closed-circuit television cameras at the entrance and exits of their showrooms. Apart from some major jewellery stores, most others are yet to set up such security device.

The police had on June 13 advised jewellery storeowners to take these steps during an interaction with members and office-bearers of the Bhubaneswar Jewellers’ Association.

“These steps were suggested as a precautionary measure but not a single owner has so far given us the details of the employees working in the stores. We have sent them several reminders,” said a police official.

The men in uniform had decided to keep an eye on the employees of jewellery stores following a robbery at City Chandan Jewellery at Kharavela Nagar on June 5. During the investigation, the police had found that an employee of the showroom had masterminded the armed robbery that took place during working hours.

In another case in April, the police had registered cases against an employee of Subash Jewellery at Kharavela Nagar for allegedly stealing ornaments worth over Rs 57 lakh from the shop. The city has more than 150 jewellery shops.

On the other hand, members of the Bhubaneswar Jewellers’ Association said they were getting the list of their employees ready for submission to the police.

“We are ready to co-operate with the police. The cops should take stern action against the employees involved in the incidents of robbery. We had told the police about the involvement of an employee in the theft at the Subash Jewellery shop, but the man is yet to be arrested,” said Purnima Sahoo, a member of the association.