A jewellery shop was looted at gunpoint and the miscreants made away with 3.5 kg of gold ornaments worth nearly ₹1.5 crore on Sunday night.
Two youth, both wearing masks and one of them was also wearing a helmet, walked into Vinod Bankers and Jewellers near BEL Circle, Jalahalli on Outer Ring Road on Sunday night and asked for a gold chain. They later expressed interest in buying a gold ring too.
When the unsuspecting jeweller Rahul Jain went to the safe to get the rings, the duo followed him brandishing a pistol. They threatened to kill him if he screamed for help.
“They bound his hands and plastered his mouth, snatched the key of the safe and looted nearly 3.5 kg of gold ornaments, before fleeing. It took nearly an hour for Rahul Jain to free himself and call the police,” said a police officer.
Dharmender Kumar Meena, DCP (North), said that Rahul Jain has identified one of the two customers. He had come to the shop on August 20, ordered a gold chain and paid an advance of ₹1,000. When he walked in on Sunday, he claimed to have come to take delivery of the gold chain.
“We have the name, but it will mostly be fake,” said DCP Meena.
Police have recovered footage from CCTV cameras in the shop for both August 20 and Sunday, which has given them leads to work on.
“The robbery seems well planned. The August 20 visit seems to be purely for a recce. The time of the robbery was chosen carefully to ensure there were not many people in the shop or in the area, and that the jeweller was alone,” he added.
