A man who was engaged on an online home service platform as an air conditioner mechanic and had been repairing AC machines in households has been arrested for allegedly firing and robbing a jewellery shop in Belghoria on the northeastern fringes of Kolkata.
An owner of the shop suffered two bullet injuries in the January 8 firing.
Police said the 30-year-old accused, Mohammad Gufran, had bought three guns, two of which were later found to be defective, from an arms dealer in Bihar whose address he found on social media.
Gufran, who was arrested on Friday afternoon by officers of the Belghoria police station, had also allegedly purchased a stolen two-wheeler for Rs 5,000 from a garage on BT Road.
“He went to the jewellery shop riding the two-wheeler,” said an officer.
Gufran, a resident of Kamarhati, has purportedly told the police that he had planned the robbery because he needed money to “settle down” with a woman he loved.
Gufran has purportedly told cops that initially he had bought a single-shot gun and two bullets for Rs 4,000 and returned to Kolkata. But when he tested the gun, he found it malfunctioning.
“He went again to Bihar and got another gun, this time at a discounted rate of Rs 2,000. But this one, too, did not work properly. He again contacted the arms dealer who offered him an improvised 7mm pistol for Rs 18,000,” the officer said.
He visited a jewellery shop on MM Shakoor Road in Kamarhati pretending to be a customer in the first week of January.
On January 8, Gufran and two of his alleged associates, including a minor, went to the shop again on the pretext of buying a ring, the police said.
“Once inside, one of the associates downed the shutter and Gufran demanded that all rings be handed to him. As the owners shouted, Gufran panicked and opened fire. Three bullets were fired, two of which hit an owner of the shop,” an officer said.
The three allegedly fled on the scooter with at least 20 gold rings.
