Fifteen local tribals stormed into a jewellery shop in Dahanu on Saturday and looted the shop to the tune of Rs 50 lakh after threatening the manager at gunpoint.
The gang also attacked two policemen from Dahanu police station, who confronted them. The duo was injured and has been admitted to a private hospital.
The shop, Ashapura Jewelers, is a few metres from Dahanu police station on the main road.
According to the police, the gang members, dressed in jeans and t-shirts, smashed the display windows with sticks and looted 4.5 kg of gold and Rs 80,000 in cash.
Due to load shedding in the area, Magansingh Rajput (34), manager of Ashapura Jewellers, was shutting shop when the heist occurred.
The gang forced Rajput and his assistant into a room inside the shop and locked them, the police said. The duo was allegedly threatened with a country-made revolver.
A passing motorist informed the police of the heist.
Police Inspector H Giri along with constable D Salunkhe, who reached the site on a motorcycle, were attacked with iron rods, hockey sticks and cricket stumps, the police said.
"The gang decamped with the loot, in full public view. They dropped 1.5 kg gold ornaments in the melee but managed to loot the collection of the day," said Giri.
{{/usCountry}}"The gang decamped with the loot, in full public view. They dropped 1.5 kg gold ornaments in the melee but managed to loot the collection of the day," said Giri.
{{/usCountry}}They also destroyed the alarm system installed inside the shop, he said.