CHENNAI: In yet another daring incident in the city, three unidentified men allegedly robbed a pawn broker shop at knife-point after gagging the shop owner in broad daylight in a narrow lane at Royapuram on Friday morning. The miscreants also gagged a 12-year-old eyewitness during the incident.
Police said Ramesh (42), a resident of Adam Shahib Street, was partially disabled. On Friday, around 11 am, learning that Ramesh was alone in the shop, a man, who posed as a customer, approached him to pledge his documents.
“While Ramesh was verifying the documents, two other men entered the shop and immediately locked the door from inside. They gagged him and threatened him at knife-point to rob the valuables,” said a police officer.
They allegedly cello-taped his mouth and tied him to the chair and physically abused him before robbing him. Meanwhile, a 12-year-old boy, who entered the shop, incidentally from the same building, watched the three men rob the man, the officer said. “Immediately the miscreants nabbed the boy and plastered his mouth too and threatened him not to tell anybody. Within a few minutes, the three men fled the scene on their motorbike with the valuables leaving the doors half open,” added the officer.
A few minutes later, another customer who came to shop to pledge his jewels found Ramesh and the small boy with plasters on their mouths and immediately informed the police.
Ramesh told the police that around 100 sovereigns of gold and `10 lakh in cash were allegedly looted from the shop. However, police are still verifying the ledger accounts to ascertain the exact amount of valuables robbed.
Ramesh ran the pawn broker shop in a two-storey building in which his house is also situated. Though the house has the same compound, his wife was unable to hear the sound as the shop door was locked from inside.
However, the board in the shop said ‘Friday holiday.’ Since it is an auspicious month for weddings, the police assume that the shop was kept open.
Police have screened CCTV footages from the street which has recorded the incident and the fingerprint bureau has lifted imprints from the scene. Police also said Ramesh had another pawn broker shop in the same street. He lives on the ground floor with his wife and two children while the first and second floors have been given on rent.
A case has been registered by the Royapuram police who have launched a search for the suspects.
House in same bldg
Ramesh ran the pawn broker shop in a two-storey building in which his house is also situated. Though the house has the same compound, his wife was unable to hear the sound as the shop door was locked from inside.