JAJPUR: In a daring heist, armed robbers raided a jewellery showroom in a busy market area of Vyasanagar town in Jajpur district on Monday afternoon and made away with gold and diamond ornaments worth over Rs 12 crore on their motorcycles.
As per reports, at around 1.30 pm, as many as seven robbers wielding guns entered the Senco Gold and Diamonds showroom posing as customers. They snatched the weapon of the security guard deployed at the entrance of the showroom and took him inside. They then held all the staff, security guard and two customers present in the showroom hostage at gunpoint and snatched their mobile phones. When some staff tried to resist the miscreants, they were brutally assaulted.
The robbers then cleaned up the entire showroom off its stock, which reportedly amounted to nearly 17 kg gold and diamond jewellery, and packed them in bags before fleeing the spot in motorcycles. The miscreants wore masks on their faces and were speaking Hindi and Odia, said one of the customers who was held hostage.
Store manager Pranab Sahu said, “Initially two of them had come inside the showroom posing as customers. Later, five others joined them. They attacked the security guard deployed at the entrance of the showroom and snatched his gun. Then keeping all of us at gunpoint, looted the showroom.”
They have also taken away mobile phones of the staff and the hard disk of the CCTV cameras. Three staff including a woman who were injured in the attack have been hospitalised, he added.While the exact amount of loss incurred by the shop is yet to be ascertained, it is believed that the stolen jewellery would be worth around Rs 12 crores.
On being informed, senior police officials including Jajpur SP Vineet Agarwal reached the spot and started investigation. The CCTV footage of jewellery showrooms nearby are being scanned and probe is underway.
A Senco Gold and Diamonds spokesperson said, “There was an unfortunate incident of robbery at our Jajpur franchisee showroom on Monday. We are in touch with the police officials and authorities on the same and are confident that the culprits will be booked soon. The most important thing for us is that our employees are safe and sound and we appreciate their courage”