Haldwani, Dec. 22 -- In a major burglary, unidentified thieves have made off with jewellery worth several lakhs from a jewellery shop at the Kusumkhera intersection on Kaladhungi main road in Nainital district, officials said on Sunday. The culprits allegedly broke into the showroom by smashing through a wall from an adjoining shop, police said on Sunday. The theft is suspected to have taken place on Friday night but came to light only on Sunday morning when the showroom owner discovered the break-in. The inner wall was found damaged, display showcases ransacked and several jewellery pieces missing, leaving the store in complete disarray, police said. Investigators believe the burglars gained entry through a neighbouring shop that had recently been rented, where carpentry work was underway to convert it into a garment showroom. Preliminary findings point to the possible involvement of labourers working at the site, police added. They suspect the culprits had closely surveyed the area in the days leading up to the theft, identifying weak security points and the positioning of CCTV cameras. "The accused used hammer-like tools to break the wall separating the two shops and tried to cut open the vault using a gas cutter but failed," said Mukhani police station in-charge Sunil Joshi. Tools including hammers and a heavy gas cutter were recovered from the scene. "A forensic team will conduct a detailed examination. Efforts are underway to identify and arrest the accused," Joshi said. Owner of the shop Radhika Jewellers, Navneet Sharma, said about 25 kg of silver jewellery and nearly 400 grams of gold jewellery were missing. "The exact value is yet to be assessed, but it could run into several lakhs," he said, adding that the burglars also took away the digital video recorder connected to eight CCTV cameras inside and outside the shop. Police said teams have been formed to scan nearby CCTV footage along the Kaladhungi road late on Friday....