Jeweller looted of Rs four lakh, 70 tola gold at gunpoint in Nagpur

NAGPUR: Four masked robbers decamped with Rs4 lakh cash and nearly 70 tolas of gold after threatening jeweller Ashish Naware at gunpoint in Nagsen Nagar near Bhim Square, Jaripatka, on Monday. The thieves thrashed Naware before tying him up and pasting tape on his mouth.
The CCTV footage of the cameras installed inside the jewellery shop caught the robbery live, despite an attempt made by the robbers to disconnect the wiring and dismantle the setup. It’s learnt that two thieves sauntered inside the shop, posing as customers, before grabbing Naware. Another one hurriedly sneaked inside the shop before pulling the shutter down.
The fourth accomplice, having a school bag on back, was captured in the CCTV keeping an eye on the busy road in front of the shop, with the locality teeming with passersby and vehicles.
A customer had paid Rs1.5 lakh in cash to Naware earlier in the day, which is now being probed by the cops for possible leads.
Naware told the cops that a woman had come to his shop on Saturday under the pretext of seeing some jewellery, accompanied by a man. The voice of one of the thieves sounded similar to Naware to that of the man who had come with the woman, two days back. As per Naware, the burglars were speaking in Hindi among themselves.
The incident, which shook the locality, came to fore only after the robbers sneaked away 10-15 minutes later, leaving the jeweller bleeding and shattered. After freeing himself Naware rushed out of his shop, seeking help from another shop owner, who took him to Jaripatka police station.
The thieves, who had come on two bikes, fled towards Kamptee Road and are likely to have left Maharashtra. CCTV footage of the cameras along the highways caught them heading towards the Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh state border.
It’s learnt that the robbers abandoned one of the cellphones used by them near Bhilgaon. A section of the police feels the move was to ensure that the cops were misled into believing that they were in the vicinity, allowing them time to leave the state.
Teams from Jaripatka police station and crime branch are on the chase in MP and Chhattisgarh, apart from resorting to different techniques to recover CCTV footages and identify the two bikes used.