Mumbai: Three masked men shoot jeweller, flee with gold

MUMBAI: Within 10 minutes of opening the shutters of his Dahisar store on Wednesday, a jeweller was shot dead by one of three masked men who arrived on a scooter and barged in a little after 10am. CCTVs in the shop captured clear images of the assailant shooting Shailendra Pandey, 37, before he and his aides looted the store.
Though the men carried away several trays of gold jewellery, police do not believe robbery was their intention and said they had kept a watch on Pandey’s movements. Pandey’s family said 20-30 tolas of gold had been stolen. The incident sent shockwaves among shop owners in Rawalpada, where Pandey had been running Om Sai Raj Jewellers from rented premises for nine years.
Police believe the assailants who shot jeweller Shailendra Pandey had kept a watch on his movements. “Shailendra had resumed business only four days ago,” said a relative. He was also assisted by his cousin sometimes. Pandey apparently had an electronic lock on the door of his shop and would check who was at the door before unlocking it. But on Wednesday, the assailants got in before he had a chance to activate it.
Pandey was the sole breadwinner for his wife and two teenaged sons. He had travelled to his hometown during the lockdown-like restrictions to look after his ailing father and recently returned, said a relative.
The CCTV cameras in his shop recorded Pandey opening the shutters of Om Sai Raj Jewellers in Dahisar’s Rawalpada at 10.06am on Wednesday. The footage shows he finished pooja and was about to clean the store, when three masked men entered, shot him and walked out at 10.14am with two heavy bags of stolen gold. Two rounds were fired in the shop. One hit him under his right eye, officials said.
“I heard two shots and initially presumed the tin shed above our shops had collapsed,” said Shivam Mishra, who runs a mobile phone store next door. “There was a commotion and people started to gather. By the time I entered the jewellery store, the assailants had vanished. Pandey had slumped to the ground, his back towards us. I dialled the police emergency number 100 but couldn’t get through. So I rushed to the Dahisar police station and brought the police with me,” he added.
Police said the three assailants had arrived on a scooter; the rider wore no helmet and was dressed in a white kurta and blue denims. Witnesses said the scooter’s number plate was dented. The police have started looking into all possible motives, including a property dispute or a financial feud. “Shailendra had never mentioned rivalry with anyone or being threatened. We used to talk frequently,” said a relative, K D Dubey.
Pandey’s body was taken to the JJ Hospital for a post-mortem. The Dahisar police have registered a case of murder and are making inquiries with traders from whom Pandey procured jewellery for his shop. The crime branch has begun a parallel inquiry.