Armed robbers on Sunday struck at the office of a private gold loan company on New Railway Road, kept employees and security guards hostage for 40 minutes at gun point, forced open the safe and fled with R7.63 lakh.
Moreover, the robbery took place in an area bustling with activity in broad daylight. All the robbers were armed and and they also injured two security guards by thrashing them with their guns, Mannapuram Gold staff told the police.
However, no gunshot was fired. According to the police, the robbers overpowered security guards Dalip Kumar and Arun Kumar, snatched their weapons and hit them on their heads.
Then, they forced employees to switch off their mobile phones. About 3-4 customers were also present in the office. Taking less than an hour, the criminals first forced an employee to open the safe with about R7 lakh in cash and then took away R63,000 lying on the counter.