IN A chilling daylight robbery, Balrampur-Ramanujgunj district witnessed an audacious armed heist at one of its most prestigious jewellery shops, Rajesh Jewellers, situated at Gandhi Chowk, the heart of the city. Around 1:15 pm, three armed robbers stormed the shop, brutally assaulted the owner, Rajesh Soni, and looted nearly 8 kilograms of gold, estimated to be worth Rs 5 crore. The culprits fled towards Jharkhand, leaving the town reeling in terror. According to police sources, the brazen criminals, aged between 20 to 30 years, entered the jewellery store armed with country-made pistols. Donning one in red shirt and two in white shirts, the robbers first snatched the mobile phone of a couple seated in the shop before violently attacking Rajesh Soni. They bludgeoned him with the butt of their pistol, leaving him bloodied and helpless. The robbers then turned their attention to the display counters, where they forced the staff, Rakesh Gupta, to hand over all the gold jewellery. In a span of 15 minutes, they stuffed the gold into a yellow sack and escaped on two motorcycles, heading towards the Jharkhand border.

 

Despite theownerraisinganalarmandattempt - ing to pursue the criminals, they managed to flee. Shockingly, a customer Laleshwar Gupta from Chaki village and his wife , Shobha Gupta, had come to the shop to exchange a ring when the heist unfolded. The robbers seized their mobile phone before executing their brutal plan. Another customer present in the store also witnessed the horrifying incident. Eyewitness accounts revealed that the robbers waved their guns as they fledtowardsJharkhand.Theywereover - heard conversing in a local dialect, believedtobe fromtheGarhwadistrict of Jharkhand, leading authorities to suspectthatthe perpetrators hail from the area. In the immediate aftermath, the Balrampur police initiated a pursuit. The audacious daylight robbery has sparked outrage and fear among the local business community.

 

In protest, traders across thetownhave shutdown their shops, demanding swift police actionandaccountability. Hundreds o f residents gatheredatGandhiChowk to expresstheirangerandfrustration,calling for justice in the wake of the robbery.Local residents and traders remarked that this robbery is not an isolatedincident.Just a year ago, awidow’sjewelleryshopinSethMohallawas robbed of Rs 9 lakh worth of valuables .