Burglars broke into a jeweller’s residence in Alipurduar district in north Bengal and fled with cash and gold worth Rs 4 lakh on Monday morning, police said.

The house was empty as the jeweller’s and his family members were busy with Chhath Puja celebrations away from home.

Santosh Kumar, the jeweller who resides at Bhagat Singh Nagar of Jaigaon, has filed a complaint with the local police station.

The Alipurduar district is on the India-Bhutan border.

Sources said Kumar, along with his family, had gone to the bank of the Torsha to perform Puja.

“When we returned home, we found that the door locks were broken. After getting inside, we realised that miscreants had broken into our house and taken away cash and gold ornaments. I have informed police and hope they will recover the stolen items,” said the jeweller.

In his complaint, Kumar said Rs one lakh in cash and gold ornaments worth Rs 3 lakh had been stolen.

“We suspect the miscreants had information that the house would be vacant early in the morning,” said a police officer.

He said in a number of similar cases earlier, robbers had taken advantage of the BHutan border, and escaped into the country.