Picture by Uttam Kumar Pal
Rourkela, Oct. 22: Two incidents of crime at two different places here have raised question marks about the residents' safety.
Last night, unknown criminals shot a businessman dead, while in another case, goons looted a jewellery shop.
Ashish Agarwal, in his thirties, was shot at from point blank range around 9pm and he later succumbed to his injuries at Ispat General Hospital.
Agarwal was engaged in an iron fines and scrap business. He was returning home at Punjabi Para near the Vishal Mega Mart, when the criminals fired at him. He was hit in the back and the bullet remained lodged in his chest. Profusely bleeding, Agarwal immediately ran to the nearby super market. Spotting him, local residents rushed him to hospital in an autorickshaw.
The doctors at the Ispat General Hospital tried to remove the bullet from his chest before his condition worsened, and he was declared dead around half past midnight.Police suspected that a rivalry stemming from his dealings in the scrap business could be the reason behind his killing.
Scrap trade has claimed many lives in the city over the years. The cops, however, are tight-lipped about the incident as they believe that divulging any information on this would hamper the investigation. Rourkela police superintendent Anirudha Singh said: "We are looking at different angles in order to solve the murder case."
In the other incident, unknown criminals looted a branch of Prasad Jewellers, a city-based group with several outlets. The shop is situated in the main market of the Fertiliser Township. The cops, however, are not sure about the timing of the loot.
According to sources, the robbers took advantage of the chaos surrounding the immersion procession of a Lakshmi idol last evening to loot the outlet. They decamped with jewellery worth more than Rs 1 crore.
The goons made two holes in the back of the shop, through which they entered. They then broke open the iron safe which was kept there and decamped with the jewellery that was inside it.
The owner of the shop, however, was hesitant about giving out details of the crime and the exact value of the ornaments that were stolen by criminals.
Speaking about the robbery, Singh said: "It cannot be said that the robbers took the advantage of the din caused by the immersion procession as it was over in a short time, but we are not ruling out the involvement of local residents in the crime."