The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Robbed Pallikaranai jeweller in a state of shock

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 21, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Robbed Pallikaranai jeweller in a state of shock

By K. Manikandan

CHENNAI, APRIL 20. The gun-point robbery at a jewellery showroom at Pallikarani on Sunday has left the shop owner in a state of shock.

"One wrong move and they could have shot us," the victim N. Chennaram said today. "They were in a mood to pull the trigger and had we not obeyed them, they would have surely killed us," he said.

Mr. Chennaram said he was in the shop along with P. Sukkalal, his cousin, when a local youth entered the shop and asked for a gold coin.

"The youth went to spit out the tobacco he was chewing and when he stepped back, three other men barged into the shop," the jeweller said. One of the men pulled out a pistol and threatened to shoot them if they shouted.

The armed men emptied the shelves and transferred gold jewels, silver articles and cash into a tourist bag. They pushed the three men into a room, locked it from outside and left the shop. The jeweller managed to break open the door and rushed out of the shop crying for help. "They were in the shop for just 10 minutes," the victim said.

Today, he was unable to prevent the flow of tear as relatives kept pouring in at his home at Medavakkam on Velachery Main Road. The jewels that were stolen included those that had been pledged. Mr. Chennaram's immediate concern is how he will convince those who had pledged their jewels.

Incidentally, his cousin Sukkalal, running a pawn shop on Mambakkam Road, near Medavakkam, is also a target of dacoits. On September 9, three men stepped out of a call taxi, assaulted him and robbed 20 sovereigns. The trio were however arrested within two hours. "What happened to my cousin is still fresh in my memory and so we did not want to take a risk. We just did what the men asked us to," the jeweller said.

Shopkeepers near the scene of crime had no clue about what was happening inside the showroom. Only after Mr. Chennaram screamed, did they come to him for help. Neither the jeweller nor other shopkeepers have any idea of the vehicle used by the men to escape. The police suspect that the men might have escaped in a waiting car parked at a little distance away from the shop.

Shopkeepers said the Pallikaranai area had witnessed a sudden spurt in crimes in the recent past. Inder, a jeweller and who has been assisting Mr. Chennaram, said: "We do not mind if our business is bad. But we want to reach home safe." He said they were beginning to get more worried about their safety and assets.

The police say a couple of special teams were working round-the-clock in pursuit of the culprits. The victim had glanced through pictures of criminals in their archives but none matched with those of the suspects.

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