Delhi jeweller shot at in daylight robbery metres away from 2 police posts

A 45-year-old jewellery shop owner was shot at in the head and abdomen, and stabbed in a daylight heist at a jewellery shop in P block market, Sector 12, on Thursday.

A 45-year-old jewellery shop owner was shot at in the head and abdomen, and stabbed in a daylight heist at a jewellery shop in P block market, Sector 12, on Thursday. Though the victim was operated, doctors at the private hospital there said his condition was critical. There’s also discrepancy in what the shopkeepers and victim’s family claim was stolen and the police’s version.

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Naresh Pawar, a native of Uttarakhand, and his younger brother have been running Kamal jewelers for the last 35 years. The Uttarakhand natives live in Delhi’s Krishna Nagar with their family.

According to eyewitnesses, the robbery took place around 12.50pm when at least three armed men stormed the shop, which is located between two police posts.

Varun Krishnatre, who works at the adjoining pharmacy, said, “I saw a group of men, wearing helmets and carrying arms, enter the shop. Within seconds, we heard gunshots after which people ran to take cover. A while later, one of them came out and took off on one bike after firing a couple of rounds in the air. Soon after, two more men came out with several trays of jewellery in their hands and with more jewellery stuffed in their shirts. They left on a second bike.”

Eye witnesses said the shooters also fired in the air, and that they heard at least seven shots being fired, two of which hit the victim in the head and abdomen. Pawar’s employee, Mahinder, who was held at knife point, said Naresh was allegedly shot when he resisted the robbery bid.

“We rushed in and saw that Naresh-ji, who has a limp, had been shot on his forehead and stomach. He had several knife injuries as well. We hailed a tempo and took him to a nearby hospital,” said Manzoor, who works as a tailor in the same arcade.

“An analysis of footage taken from CCTV camera show that the entire incident was over in under 5 minutes. They went in, carried out the robbery, injured the owner and fled. We are trying to track the bikes, but prima facie it seems the number plates are fake,” deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Sankalp Sharma said, adding that they are trying to trace suspects’ escape route.

To gather more clues, a forensic team and a sniffer dog scanned the shop after the incident and recovered three shells of .32 bore pistol were recovered.

“Some very relevant clues are being worked on. Three special teams headed by senior officials are assigned to crack this case,” said Alok Singh commissioner of police Gautam Budh Nagar.

Three teams under DCP (crime) Meenakshi Katyayan, ACPs Arun Kumar and Rajneesh Kumar, have been formed while a reward of ₹50,000 has been announced for information about the suspects.

VALUE OF GOODS

While the local shopkeepers and Naresh’s family claimed that the robbers took an entire display case, police said they took one tray with a few small rings in it.

“The cost of the goods taken has not been determined yet. We have questioned the employee and a probe is underway,” the DCP said.

Contrary to the police account, family members said the suspects decamped with an entire display case. “There was a safe inside, which was left untouched. They emptied the display case, the value of which we cannot ascertain at the moment. We got to know about the incident after the family was informed by the nearby shop owners,” victim’s brother-in-law Sumit Bisht said.

Till reports last came in, Pawar’s condition was critical after a surgery at Metro Multispeciality hospital. “He has at least one bullet injury on his head, a stab wound on his back and minor injuries on his left hand fingers. He underwent surgery and is critical for now,” Dr Ribhu Rajpal, medical superintendent at the Metro Multispeciality Hospital, had said when Pawar was in the operation theatre.

A spokesperson for the hospital later informed that Pawar had been shifted to the ICU. “He is sedated and on ventilator support. Brain injury was repaired and a drain was placed. Right eye has a hematoma. His condition is critical and the prognosis is poor. A head CT will be done in the morning and after that further treatment will be decided,” the spokesperson said Thursday evening.

Meanwhile, office bearers of various shopkeepers’ and jeweller associations, and nearby shop owners sat on a protest outside the jewellery store against the daylight shooting.