Man shot at while resisting robbery bid at jewellery shop in Ghaziabad

A 37-year-old man was critically injured after two armed robbers shot at him when he tried to resist their robbery attempt at his father’s jewellery shop at a busy market area at Rakesh Marg in Nehru Nagar on Thursday afternoon.

Known by the name ‘Bhagwat Swaroop Banwari Lal Jewellers’, the shop is run by 55-year-old Arvind Kumar Verma and his son Vikas Verma. Both the father-son due were at the shop when two unidentified men wearing helmets barged inside and pulled out guns.

“One of the men brandished a gun and asked me to get all the jewellery. I immediately held his hand. Seeing this, my son got up and moved towards the robbers… one of the two robbers opened fire at my son and ran outside. The bullet hit my son in the abdomen but he still ran out to chase the robbers,” said Arvind Verma.

“Both the men were wearing helmets and had their faces covered. When I ran outside, I saw one of the robbers fleeing on a scooter that was being driven by another person, who was waiting outside. The second robber fled on foot. I decided to give up the chase and ran to my injured son. I rushed him to a private hospital with the help of our neighbours,” said Arvind Verma.

The doctors at Yashoda Hospital in Nehru Nagar said Vikas is in a critical state. “He sustained a gunshot to the upper abdomen. We have retrieved the bullet and kept him under observation in ICU. He will be under observation for the next 48 hours,” said Dr Sangita Garg, chief medical superintendent of the hospital.

Following the incident, senior superintendent of police (SSP) Muniraj G visited the crime scene and also issued directions for the suspension of the police-post in-charge.

“We received information about the two robbers around 1:30pm. The shop owner said the robbers failed to take away any items with them. However, we are doing a detailed investigation and our teams are trying to trace them,” said the SSP.

“We have been told that two suspects fled on a white scooter. We have accessed the footage of the CCTV cameras installed at the shop, which captured the failed robbery attempt,” said the SSP.

“I have also started regular comprehensive checking across the district. I will review the areas where police checking was on and find out if there was any lax on the part of the policemen,” said the SSP.

The Ghaziabad police has been on its toes due to back-to-back robberies. Former senior superintendent of police Pawan Kumar was suspended on March 31 after a robbery of ₹25 lakh at a fuel station in Govindpuram on March 28.

Muniraj G assumed charge as the new SSP three days ago and cracked two major robbery cases– the one at the petrol pump, and the one at a branch of a nationalised bank in Nandgram, where six robbers, who looted nearly ₹12 lakh, were arrested on Wednesday.