Jewellery store owner, employee injured in faceoff with armed robbers

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: In yet another incident of aggravated robbery in the city, four armed men barged into a jewellery shop in Kodigehalli and opened fire at the owner and an employee before fleeing the spot on Thursday morning.

The two injured were identified as Appuram, the owner of Lakshmi Jewellers and Bankers and Anandram, an employee and a relative of Appuram.

The incident took place around 11:15 am after Appuram and Anandram opened the shop and began cleaning, the police said.

The men arrived outside the shop on two bikes and barged into the shop while concealing their identity.

As per the locals, two of them had their helmets on while the other two had covered their faces with shawls. Two of them stood at the door even as the other two pointed pistols at Appuram and Anandram demanding they hand over the valuables to them.

Sources close to the victims said that both Appuram and Anandram were shocked and attempted to resist the assailants while shouting for help.

Sensing trouble, the accused shot three rounds of fire during which a bullet hit Appuram in his abdomen and Anandram was shot in the leg.

A few neighbours who heard the screams and gunshots, rushed both of them to MS Ramaiah Hospital.

Later the sources said that Anandram is out of danger. Kodigehalli police reached the spot and later, Karnataka Director General and Inspector General (DG & IGP) Alok Mohan followed by Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda visited the place and noted the details.