Navi Mumbai: 3 armed robbers steal jewellery worth Rs 12 lakhs from Kharghar store; booked

Screengrab of video

Three unidentified persons, on Sunday, robbed a jewellery shop in Navi Mumbai's Kharghar at gunpoint and fled with jewellery worth Rs 12 lakhs. The incident happened at the shop located in Sector 35 on Sunday night, officials said.

Sources said that three unknown assailants, whose faces were covered with helmets, entered the shop and brandished pistols while looting the store. The police said they fired a few rounds as well and made away with jewellery.

The CCTV footage of the incident, which has surfaced online, showed one of the armed robbers threatening the three salesmen sitting behind the counter to empty the gold, silver and cash at the shop to which they obliged. One of the persons attempted to raise an alarm; though he succeeded, no immediate help arrived. One of the accused is heard shouting at the salesmen, and a few minutes later, they escaped with the loot.

One of the onlookers tried to stop the accused in their tracks by hurling a stone at their two-wheeler but missed. A case has been filed by the Kharghar police under various sections of BNS & Arms Act and a manhunt has been launched to trace the three accused.

In a similar incident in the second week of July, diamond jewellery was stolen from the Rail Vihar Society in Sector 4 of Kharghar. The accused had broken into the home of a retired railway official who was visiting their son in Hong Kong. They were alerted of the housebreak once they returned.

Residents lamented that they seldom saw policemen patrolling the area during the daytime. They noted that the incidents of robbery had increased in the Kharghar node.

Founder President of Swachh Kharghar Foundation Mangal Kamble, condemning the increase in the instances of theft, said, "I have reached out to Police Commissioner Milind Bharambe raising concern about the increase in cases of housebreaking, theft and robbery; he has acknowledged the public concern and hopefully police patrolling during afternoon, evening and late night will be seriously considered. Kharghar is also the home for many elderly fragile senior citizens, whose safety is our concern. And with the festive season coming, such incidents should be prevented, through strict vigil, by police and public."

With inputs from Vinod Kumar Menon