Lucknow, June 08: In a daring robbery, an armed miscreant entered a jewellery store and decamped with jewellery worth over Rs 1 crore, moments after the store owner opened his shop for the day in Sarrafa Chowk area in Pilibhit on Sunday morning. The shop is located barely a 100 metres away from the local Puranpur police station.
Agitated over the incident, traders of Sarrafa Chowk announced that they would keep their shutters down till the accused(s) was arrested and the booty recovered.
Reports said Prabhu Dayal Rastogi, a resident of Sarrafa Chowk, opened a jewellery store named Parakh Jewellers situated at a short distance from his house. As a matter of routine, Prabhu Dayal used to carry his stock of gold jewellery, gems and precious stones to his house daily after closing his shop for the day and bring them back the next day. Prabhu Dayal had picked up this practice after burglars struck at another jewellery store and decamped with the stocks one night.
As always, he reportedly reached his shop around 9:15 am carrying four bags full of jewellery, gems and precious stones. He had barely rolled up the shutters of his shop and was about to transfer the jewellery from the bags to the steel safe installed there, when a regular customer walked in, followed by an unidentified man. The latter reportedly picked up the bags and dashed out of the shop even before Prabhu Dayal or the customer could understand what was happening.
Watching him escape, the two raised an alarm but the robber whipped out a firearm and fired two shots in the air to avoid resistance. He then jumped on the pillion of a motorcycle waiting to pick him up at a short distance and sped away. Police were investigating into the case but no arrests were reported till late on Sunday night.
—Agencies–