Two gangs of armed robbers loot two branches of popular branded jewellery chain, click selfies

 Armed gangs strike in Purulia, Ranaghat

Policemen in front of the gold jewellery store in Purulia town after the robbery on Tuesday: Picture by Biswanath Roy

Abhijeet Chatterjee, Subhasish Chaudhuri, TT, Durgapur/Ranaghat, 30.08.23: Two gangs of armed robbers looted two branches of a popular branded jewellery chain almost simultaneously in Purulia town and Nadia's Ranaghat on Tuesday afternoon, the goons clicking selfies with the jewellery in the former.

Police said the modus operandi of the two crimes were the same.

In Ranaghat, police managed to intercept four robbers after a chase and one received a bullet in the leg as both sides exchanged fire.

In Purulia, the robbers were more successful, taking away gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs 8 crore at gunpoint and beating up security guards.

Police said a Bihar-based gang of eight armed robbers entered the Senco Gold & Diamonds store in Ranaghat town's Mission Road on Tuesday around 3pm in two groups, posing as customers. Most of the staffers were having lunch then.

Four criminals entered the outlet and held the head of the security staff at gunpoint. They then asked employees and customers to keep silent. Four others were waiting outside. A few employees having lunch in the CCTV control room saw the footage and called up police.

An employee said: "First they took away the cash worth Rs 3.7 lakh and robbed the jewellery worth over Rs 90 lakh on display. They finished the operation within 10 minutes and tried to flee, but police nabbed them near the exit, which led to a chase and a gunfight."

In Purulia, a store of the same brand was robbed. A gang of eight armed men entered the shop in the town's Nampara posing as customers, whipped out guns and tied up the two security guards.

Sources said the goons clicked selfies with the looted jewellery worth Rs 8 crore before putting them in bags in the 30-minute heist. They also took away the hard disk of the CCTV camera before fleeing in bikes.