In the second such incident in 10 days, two men snatched a woman’s gold jewellery after posing as customers at her chemist shop in Dera Bassi in broad daylight on Monday.
Victim Deepika Malhotra of Punjabi Bagh, Dera Bassi, runs a chemist shop with her husband, Rohit Malhotra, near her house.
She told the police that around 2.30 pm, two masked men entered her shop and sought paracetamol tablets and bandages. When she turned around to fetch the medicines, one of the men, who was turbaned, snatched her gold chain. The duo then threatened her, and forcibly took her gold bangles and a gold ring, before fleeing on a motorcycle. Shocked by the incident, she could not jot down the two-wheeler’s number.
She alerted the police, following which cops from PCR and Dera Bassi police stations reached the spot. A police official investigating the case said the accused were yet to be identified. “We are scrutinising footage from CCTV cameras near the shop. Two men were seen entering the shop, but the crime was not captured. We will arrest them soon,” he added.
Police have launched a probe after lodging an FIR under Sections 304 (snatching) and 3 (5) (act done by multiple persons) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Dera Bassi police station.
{{/usCountry}}Police have launched a probe after lodging an FIR under Sections 304 (snatching) and 3 (5) (act done by multiple persons) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Dera Bassi police station.
{{/usCountry}}The snatching comes close on the heels of a similar incident on August 2, when two armed men made off with a woman’s gold chain and gold earrings while she was sitting inside her shop in Zirakpur.
The victim, Muskan Arora, of Pabhat village in Zirakpur, had claimed that two men arrived on a motorcycle and entered her shop while brandishing a pistol. They had forcibly pulled her gold earrings, injuring her ears. Before fleeing, the accused had also allegedly assaulted Arora and stolen around ₹1,200 in cash from the shop’s cash box. The accused continue to remain out of police’s reach 10 days later.