Bhubaneswar: Two armed men looted a jewellery shop near Bhubaneswar Wednesday, but it went haywire as their motorcycle broke down while escaping after the daring daylight robbery that had all the drama of a heist movie.
However, they hijacked another motorcycle and succeeded in escaping.
CCTV footage showed two men parking their motorcycle near Sagarika Jewellers in Janla on the outskirts of the state capital. The accused were wearing helmets and the visors were pulled down as they entered the shop.
They sprayed some chemical on the shopkeeper’s face and started looting some jewellery. But the alert owner pressed an alarm bell beside him, police said.
“They looted jewellery worth around Rs 20 lakh from my shop, but the exact value is yet to be estimated,” the visibly-shaken shopkeeper told reporters.
Few locals gathered after hearing the alarm and tried to peep into the shop to see what happened, but they ran helter-skelter after seeing the gunmen, as per the footage.
High drama unfolded when the two came out of the shop in a hurry, but their motorcycle malfunctioned. One of them desperately tried to start the vehicle as the pillion rider kept on pointing the gun at someone inside the shop.
“I came outside and tried to hit them with a stick, following which one of them opened fire at me,” the owner said.
“Had I not ducked and moved away, the bullet would have pierced my chest,” he said.
After trying in vain to start the motorcycle, one of them started scurrying and pushing it down the road as the other gave him cover from behind with the gun, according to the footage.
The looters then hijacked another motorcycle and fled, a police officer said.
“An investigation is underway and we hope to nab the culprits soon.”
The owner said he does not feel safe keeping the shop open anymore and has decided to close it forever.
PTI