Trader looted and shot dead in Surat

A trader was shot dead and looted at  Pandesara, on Monday morning.  Kanti Patel, 52, an egg dealer and a resident of Navi Vasahat in Bamroli was on his way in his Maruti Van to drop his nephew (son of his brother-in-law) and daughter to school on Monday morning.

On the way, he stopped at his shop in Nemnagar, Pandesara and asked his nephew Samay to hand-over a tea kettle and water bag to the servant. The moment Samay got out, three people approached Patel's car.

They pushed Patel inside and asked him to hand over the gold jewellery that he was wearing. When Patel resisted, the trio shot him. They fired four rounds of bullets, of which three hit Patel, who died on the spot. After killing Patel, the three robbed him of Rs3 lakh including gold chain, rings, gold plated watch and Rs20,000 in cash.

The three fled the spot without much difficulty. Although they killed Patel, Samay and Mikki (Patel's daughter) were not harmed. Sources said that the looters tried to escape in Patel's car, but could not as the car could not be put in ignition. The local people informed the police of the incident. Cops said that the three spoke Hindi and escaped from the spot on foot. Cops have initiated a hunt for the culprits. Police suspect that the trio had collected information about Patel, before committing the crime.