A jewellery workshop employee was allegedly robbed of gold worth more than ₹2 crore and his scooter by two men armed with a gun in Sinthi on Wednesday evening.
The alleged robbery took place at 6/J, Raja Apurba Krishna Lane, after Sanjit Kumar Das, 54, had returned from Burrabazar on his scooter and was trying to enter his jewellery-making unit.
CCTV footage shows Das reaching the workshop on his scooter, parking it in front of the main gate and getting off to open the gate when two men come from behind him and one of them takes away the scooter, flashing a gun at him.
Das told police that a gold bar weighing more than 2kg was in a bag inside a compartment in the scooter.
“The complainant had purchased a gold bar weighing 2.38kg from Burrabazar and had returned to the workshop in Sinthi around 8.10pm on Wednesday. As he got off his scooter to open the gate, a man jumped onto it and tried to flee. When the complainant shouted and tried to resist, the accused took out a gun and pointed it at him,” said an officer of Sinthi police station.
The police said two men, wearing surgical masks, were seen trailing the complainant as he entered the lane on his scooter.
However, as soon as the man got off the scooter and one of the accused hopped on the two-wheeler. The second man suddenly retreated and ran away towards the direction from where the duo had come. The man who stole the scooter went in the opposite direction.
Investigators said it appeared that the robbers had been following the complainant for several days. They were aware of his routine of going to Burrabazar to bring gold.
“It looks like the robbers were even aware of the fact that the complainant was in the habit of keeping his scooter on the road for a few minutes with its engine running. He would then get off the vehicle and open the main gate,” said the officer.
A case of armed robbery has been started at Sinthi police station. The police said they were in the process of identifying the men seen in the footage.
“We are examining the other employees of the workshop and witnesses,” said an officer.
The police are also recording a detailed statement of the complainant, originally from West Midnapore. He started work at the unit around four months ago.
No one was arrested till late Friday evening.