Lone gunman steals jewels worth $53 million at Cannes

New Delhi, July 29: The hotel where Alfred Hitchcock filmed 'To Catch A Thief' in 1955, saw a real theft on Sunday after a robbery in 1994.

An armed man on Sunday stole jewels worth about $53 million from the Carlton Hotel in Cannes in France.

There have been several high-profile jewellery thefts in Europe this year, including one at Brussels airport in February which saw £32million worth of diamonds taken.

In August 1994, three men firing machine guns burst into the Carlton and robbed its jewellery store. Later, it was discovered the gang were firing blanks.

The Cannes hold-up took place on Sunday at a jewellery exhibition at the Carlton Hotel on the Croisette promenade.

An exhibition of diamonds was being held in the hotel's lobby. A lone robber brandishing a handgun stole jewels worth £34million in a brazen heist. He tipped diamonds and other precious stones into a briefcase during the raid in broad daylight.

The robber made off on foot through the promenade which stretches a mile and a half along the Cannes seafront and is thronged by the rich and famous throughout the year.

The jewels belonged to the prestigious Leviev diamond house.

The Cannes robbery has come off after recent jail escapes by members of the notorious Pink Panther jewel thief gang.

Last Thursday, Milan Poparic escaped from Swiss prison after accomplices rammed a gate and overpowered guards with bursts from their AK-47s. He is the third member of the gang to escape from a Swiss prison in as many months.

The Pink Panther gang had targeted luxury watch and jewellery stores in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States. Their haul was estimated to be over £380million.

Jonathan Sazonoff, the US editor of the Museum Security Network website was quoted by media that "the brazen drama is their style. The possibility of the re-emergence of the Pink Panther gang is very troubling."

Cannes is know for its film festival and it was hit by two jewellery thefts in May.

Alfred Hitchcock's 1955 film "To Catch A Thief" is about a jewel thief and the Carlton hotel featured in the film. The film stars Cary Grant as a former cat burglar struggling to save his reformed reputation by catching a new thief preying on the wealthy tourists.

OneIndia News
(with agencies inputs)