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Raipur/Balrampur: Gold worth Rs 5 crore was looted from a jewellery shop in Balrampur-Ramanujganj district of Chhattisgarh on Wednesday. The robbery took place in broad daylight, with the perpetrators attacking the shop owner and employees.
The looters attacked the owner of a jewellery shop with the butt of a gun, by injuring him, overpowered his employees at gun point and then looted 8 kg gold by threatening to shoot the owner and his employees and fled from the crime scene. It was assumed that they entered Jharkhand on a bike.
The robbers, armed with guns, arrived at the Rajesh Jewelry store on a motorcycle around 1:50 pm on Wednesday afternoon, and looted gold worth Rs 5 crore from the jewellery store in the Balrampur-Ramanujganj district of Chhattisgarh.
They used the butt of a gun to injure the shop owner, Rajesh Soni, and then overpowered his employees at gunpoint, sources in the police said. For 15 minutes, the robbers held the shop hostage, seizing 8 kg of gold before fleeing the scene. They escaped towards Jharkhand on their motorcycle. The entire incident was captured on CCTV.
According to police reports, two of the robbers gathered the jewelry while the third kept watch both inside and outside the store. The robbers had parked their bike in front of a nearby cobbler's shop.
After the robbery, the shop owner and his employees raised an alarm. Balrampur SP Rajesh Agarwal and his team inspected the crime scene and are working on leads to apprehend the culprits. The SP has coordinated with Jharkhand police and has formed a special team to track down the robbers. The investigation has extended into Ramakanda, Jharkhand.
Notably, Rajesh Soni, the shop owner, is also a councillor for Ward 8 and owns the largest jewelry store in Ramanujganj. He has a branch in Balrampur, and his sister, Seema Soni, manages the Ramanujganj location.
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In response to the robbery, local traders shut their businesses for the day to show solidarity with the victim. They also highlighted a similar incident that occurred on October 17, 2023, when jewelry worth Rs 8 lakh was stolen from Deepak Jewelers in Ramanujganj. Traders are demanding the immediate arrest of the robbers.
