CHENNAI: In spite of modern security equipment and the formidable reputation of the city police, a man robbed and killed a jewellery store owner in broad daylight on Saturday. Pretending to be a customer, he slit the throat of the 28-year-old owner of a pawn-cum-jewellery shop in Maduravoyal and made away with around 23 sovereigns of gold. The image of the accused was captured by a CCTV camera in the shop and seven police teams are on his trail.Police said B Guna Ram alias Ganesh (28), who runs Balaji Jewellers with his elder brother Thana Ram at Patel Road, Shakthi Nagar, Nerkundram, was at the shop when an unidentified man walked in at around 11.30 am. The man asked to see gold chains and watches and Guna Ram displayed some gold jewellery on the table and went inside to open a small locker, apparently to bring more jewellery to show the customer.Noticing the shopowner bending down to remove jewellery from the small locker, the man followed him to the room, overpowered him from behind, closed his mouth and slit his throat with a foot-long knife, police said. He escaped with jewellery that police said could be worth many lakhs.Meanwhile, Thana Ram, who had gone out to a chit fund office to pay some money, returned to see his brother lying in a pool of blood. Maduravoyal police and senior officials arrived at the scene and a sniffer dog was also pressed into service.CCTV FootagePolice said the shop, located for a decade in a bustling area of Nerkundram, had two CCTV cameras - one at the entry point and the other inside the shop. Police sources said the one inside the shop clearly captured the unidentified man conversing with Guna Ram. They suspect that the events could be a premeditated as the perpetrator had conversed with the shopowner for close to 25 minutes before attacking him. “It looks like a well-planned offence. We will nab him,” said a senior police official. Meanwhile, residents in the busy Patel Road, alleged that they had seen another man waiting outside the shop for a long time. “I have been a regular customer. The owner was always calm and treated his customers well,” said Kumar, a resident.The Unidentified ManPolice officials, who saw the footage, said that the unidentified man could be in his mid-30s and was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. He is almost six-feet tall and well-built as opposed to the victim, who was lean. Hence, overpowering the owner was not difficult, sources claimed. Police sources also said that when Guna Ram and the man were conversing, another man, allegedly a collection agent known to the owner, arrived at the shop. They conversed for a few minutes and the agent left.Previous Theft in ShopThis was not the first time that the shop was targeted. According to police sources, 930 grams of jewellery were stolen from the same shop last year and the police were yet to crack the case. Sources alleged that there was also pressure on the shopowners to withdraw the complaint.Pawnbrokers GheraoClose to 500 pawn brokers from the Madras Pawnbrokers Association allegedly gheraoed the Maduravoyal police station condemning the incident and demanding strict action. “A previous theft in the same shop is yet to be detected. There was pressure to close the case and an inquiry was also on against a police official. In the midst of that, another offence. We are convening a meeting and making demands,” said J Dharamchand Seervi, General Secretary of the Association.Photograph of SuspectPolice have released the photograph of the suspect, said to be tall and well built, taken from the CCTV video grab. In a release, police said that anybody giving useful information will be handsomely rewarded. Any information on the whereabouts of the accused can be provided to the following numbers. Joint Commissioner of Police, West Zone - 89399 66985Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ambattur - 99406 96901Asst. Commissioner of Police, Maduravoyal - 98409 30049Inspector, Maduravoyal - 98401 01077
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