A jewellery shop in Juinagar was robbed of ornaments worth Rs30 lakh on Tuesday night. The robbers also vandalised the shop when the proprietor, who was present, refused to hand over the jewellery to them, a senior police officer said.
According to the police, five persons, armed with choppers and a handmade katta, came in a car and entered Vishal Jewellers, located at sector 25 in Juinagar, around 9.15pm. At that time, there were only two customers in the shop - a man and a woman, and the proprietor, Kapil Pariad, 23.
“The culprits had covered their faces with black and red clothes. They asked Pariad to hand over the jewellery he had in the shop to them. They flashed the katta and choppers, in an attempt to threaten him. They also warned him of dire consequences if he did not act accordingly,” said S Bhosale, police sub-inspector from Nerul police station.
When the proprietor refused to give in to their demands, the culprits vandalised the shop with their choppers and snatched some gold ornaments kept in their showcases. They then took Rs5,000 from the cash box and fled the shop in the car. They completed the entire robbery within 10 minutes.
Although CCTV cameras were installed in the shop, the footages obtained from them are not so clear. Since the culprits had their faces covered, none of them have been identified,” Bhosale said.
The police found the car used by the culprits near Kerala Bhavan in Vashi, late on Tuesday night. “The culprits might have thought that they would get arrested if they go out of the city in that car and hence they ran away leaving behind the car in that isolated spot. We have recovered three choppers from the car,” Bhosale added.
The police suspect the involvement of someone who knew the shop owners very well and had a good knowledge of the ornaments stored in shop.
“We have received certain clues about the culprits and have sent our officials to various places searching for them. The five robbers seem to be professional criminals and it appears that they had been observing the shop for several days. We hope to get hold of them within a day or two,” another police officer from Nerul police station said.
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