Jeweller couple held hostage, robbed
PANDAV NAGAR Robbers took away cash, jewellery worth lakhs; cut wires connecting CCTV cams, digital recorder
NEW DELHI: A jeweller and his wife were held hostage at gunpoint inside a showroom in east Delhi’s Pandav Nagar by three armed robbers on Thursday afternoon.
The victims claimed the three men fled with ₹2 lakh cash and jewellery worth several lakh of rupees, police said.
Police officials said the men also took away the CCTV recorder installed inside the showroom. Police are yet to identify them.
At around 11am, as Vijay Sharma and his wife Priyanka Sharma opened the showroom for the day, a brown Wagon R stopped in front of shop’s main entrance.
The couple told the police that three men, each armed with a pistol barged into the showroom, while at least one of their aides waited in the car.
“The men first pointed the pistol at the husband and ordered him to not make any noise. They handed him a bag and ordered him to fill it with jewellery. When he resisted, the three men allegedly assaulted him and threatened to shoot him. Hearing the husband cry for help, his wife Priyanka rushed to help, but she was also caught and held on gunpoint,” said a police officer, who did not wish to be named.
While one of the robbers kept the couple at gunpoint, the other two allegedly stuffed the bag with jewellery. They even took away the shop’s weighing scale, the couple told police.
Before leaving, the robbers n allegedly cut all the wires connecting the CCTV cameras installed in the shop and took the digital video recorder as well, police said.
Police officials said the robbers also warned Sharma and his wife that if they call the police, they would return and kill the couple. However, ensur- ing that the robbers had left the neighbourhood, Sharma called up the police control room and reported the heist.
Senior police officer, along with a crime and forensics team, arrived at the showroom and collected fingerprints.
Deputy commissioner of police (east) Pankaj Kumar Singh said police teams are trying to identify the men. “Since the accused were not masked, we are looking at a few suspects who could be identified by the victims. The total value of the jewellery that the accused fled with is yet to be estimated. CCTV footage from the neighbourhood is being checked to identify the vehicle the accused had used,” the DCP said.
DCP Singh said the armed robbers did not open fire inside the showroom.