Gold, Rs 11 lakh looted in daring, daylight heist

According to Sagar, who owns the shop, but was away during the robbery, five masked men appeared in front of his shop on Devaraj First Street, around 10 am on Friday. Three of them barged into the shop while two others stood watch outside. The gang members brandishing knives threatened to kill the employees and collected the gold jewellery and cash kept inside the cupboard. They then fled the scene on two motorbikes. They warned the employees of dire consequences if they raised an alarm.

City Police Commissioner TK Rajendran and Additional Commissioner C Sridhar arrived on the spot and initiated investigation. Police have collected the CCTV footage from the shop for verification and a local resident has handed over the number of the two-wheeler on which the robbers escaped to the police. Police have alerted all the exit points in the city and traffic police personnel  to check for the motorbikes used by the robbers. 

A special team has been formed to crack the case. Police are also enquiring into the possible involvement of an insider in  the robbery. Sources said that 

Sagar’s shop was not a jewellery unit but a computerised gold purity testing centre. The robbers seemed to have had a clear idea about the valuables and cash kept inside the shop and police suspect that an insider could have passed on the information's to the culprits. 

Police said apart from Sagar’s brother,  another relative worked in the testing centre.