Ranaghat/Purulia: At least two jewellery showrooms of the same brand were burgled in broad daylight in Purulia and Ranaghat in West Bengal on Tuesday, the police said. According to sources, the employees of the showroom were allegedly beaten up at gunpoint at the jewellery showroom in Ranaghat.
The police said that the accused entered the jewellery shop one by one and then all of a sudden, everyone took out their firearms and started beating the employees. Within a few minutes, they looted jewellery worth crores of rupees. On receiving the information, the police reached the spot before the accused tried to flee.
The miscreants then engaged in a gunfight with the police at the spot. However, out of the eight criminals involved in the incident, four have been nabbed by the police. Police said that two miscreants were injured and fell to the ground during the exchange of fire. They were rescued and admitted to Ranaghat sub-district hospital, the police said. While two more fled the spot.
Ranaghat Mayor Kushal Deb Banerjee arrived at the scene and said, "There was an event near the showroom. I ran after hearing the sound of the gunshots. Such a big incident has not happened before. We want the administration to immediately identify and arrest the rest of the criminals, who are absconding."
In a similar incident, a group of seven miscreants looted the jewellery showroom of the same brand in the Namopara area of Purulia city. According to outlet staff, customers entered the showroom, tied up the security guards and showroom staff and robbed all the gold and diamond jewellery. On receiving the information, the police rushed to the spot.
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The police launched a search operation to nab the accused. Shop worker Sujit Deogharia said, "This incident happened around 1:30 pm. Our staff did not suspect anything as they looked like customers. The miscreants looted the shop and fled." Talking about the robbery in Ranaghat at a press conference, DIG Rashid Munir Khan said, "There is a team of eight robbers hailing from Bihar. A local Bihari first visited the spot and then the team executed the crime. Today at around 3 pm they entered the showroom posing themselves as customers. Each of them had a firearm. Our police reached the spot within 20 minutes after receiving the information."
"Our police chased them and started firing. Two people were shot in the legs. A total of four firearms and 22 rounds were recovered from them. Besides, fake number plates and Aadhaar cards have been recovered from them," DIG Rashid Munir Khan said. Ranaghat District Superintendent of Police Dr K Kannan was present. The four miscreants will be produced in the Ranaghat Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.
