ROURKELA: A 22-year-old jeweller was gunned down by unidentified miscreants in broad daylight in Sundargarh’s Bargaon block on Monday sending shockwaves among the community in the district where ornament-makers have continued to be targeted by criminals with brazenness.
Police said, Rohit Verma was opening his shop at Bargaon in the morning when the miscreants attempted to loot his bag containing valuable ornaments. When he resisted, they opened fire at him. The neighbouring shop owner Saroj Das intervened but he too was shot at. In the melee, the assailants dropped the firearm and fled. Verma and Das were rushed to a private hospital 70 km away at Rourkela. Verma was pronounced dead while Das was admitted for critical care.
This is the third case of jewellers being gunned down in the district in last two and half months. The other two cases were reported in Rourkela in December within days of each other. None of the cases has been detected yet, leaving the community scared.
Taking stock of the situation, Sundargarh SP Sagarika Nath said two teams have been formed to probe the case. While one is looking after field investigation, the other is working with the cyber cell. On being asked if same set of miscreants is involved in all the crimes, the SP said investigation is underway.
On the evening of December 14 last year, three bike-borne miscreants had shot at a woman jeweller Nirmal Soni in TCI area within Brahmani Tarang police limits of Rourkela but failed in their loot attempt. Soni succumbed 13 days later on December 28.
The same month, Saroj Sahu, salesman of a jewellery store was carrying ornaments worth about `20 lakh to the owner’s house when he was shot dead by three miscreants on the STI road over bridge under RN Pali police limits of Rourkela. The killers decamped with the valuables.The latest incident has sent shock waves in the community who now fear for their safety. Sources said all the three crimes seem to have common link.