Armed men loot ₹70 lakh jewellery from Faridabad showroom

Three suspects held the owner at gunpoint in Sururpur and fled with gold and silver ornaments within minutes, police said.

Three unidentified armed suspects looted gold and silver ornaments worth approximately ₹70 lakh after barging into a jewellery showroom and taking the owner hostage at gunpoint in Faridabad’s Sururpur on Wednesday, police said.

Two armed suspects entered the Sururpur showroom while an accomplice waited on a motorcycle; police teams launched a search. (HT)

Police said the incident took place between 1.46pm and 1.55pm when the owner, Sanjay Verma, 41, was alone inside the showroom. Investigators said three suspects arrived on a motorcycle, two entered the shop, pointed a pistol at Verma and threatened him with dire consequences if he moved. “They asked him to open the vault in which more than 400 grams of gold ornaments were stored,” a senior police official said.

“They collected all the gold and silver jewellery from the vault and those which were kept in the display. While leaving, they noticed that Verma was wearing a gold ornament and thus asked him to hand it over to them,” the official said.

Investigators said the two suspects later fled on the motorcycle where their associate was waiting. Police said the robbery unfolded in less than three minutes, and neighbours realised it only after Verma raised an alarm.

Yashpal Yadav, public relations officer of Faridabad police, said police received the alert by 2pm and teams reached the spot. “The two suspects who had entered inside the shop had kept their faces covered. One of them had a knife, and another one had a pistol. The third suspect who was waiting for them on the motorcycle outside the shop had kept wearing a helmet to ensure that their faces are not visible in CCTV cameras,” he said, adding that multiple teams, including the crime branch, are conducting raids.

On Verma’s complaint, an FIR under sections 309(4) (robbery) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Arms Act was registered at Mujesar police station on Wednesday evening.