At around 1.30 pm a group of five to six men barged in to the Lakshmi Babu Jewelers at Munshibazar Road and started threatening the sales persons and customers with handguns. When the owner of the shop Manoj Kumar Prasad (38) refused to hand over the keys, one of them assaulted Prasad and hit him on the head with the gun’s butt. Injured and fearing for everyone’s safety, the beleaguered owner handed over the keys.

Among the group, only two to three men were armed, according to the police.

The robbers managed to escape in their white Tata Sumo with around 25 grams of gold ornaments as well as some silver jewellery.

In the complaint lodged with the police, Prasad said the value of the silver is yet to be ascertained. Police officers investigating the case said the jewellery shop is one of those few stores, which open before 2.00 pm. “Usually, most jewellery stores open at 2.00 pm. Since we are aware of that, police protection is also provided from that time. The miscreants seem to have observed this trend and struck before 2.00 pm,” said the police.