Armed men storm into gold loan office, shoot woman

A woman was shot at by some miscreants who stormed into a gold loan financial institution and looted gold ornaments at gunpoint.

The incident took place at Khardah in North 24 Parganas at around 9.10 am on Saturday. The incident triggered tension in the area. Police said that the victim Sarbari Ghosh received serious bullet injury and is undergoing treatment at a hospital. It may be mentioned that the incident occurred only few days after a gang of robbers from Bangladesh looted a jewellery shop and shot dead its owner at Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas.

Police said that when the security person of the financial institution along with some staff was opening the office, two armed miscreants suddenly entered into the gold loan office brandishing arms. The middle-aged security man failed to put up any resist against the accused as he did not have arms with him when the incident happened. The two miscreants who entered into the office looted gold ornaments from the locker at gunpoint.

In the meantime, the victim entered the office when she was initially prevented by a gang member who was stationed outside to monitor the situation. The woman forcibly entered the IIFL gold loan branch at Arunachal in Rahara Bazar. It was learnt that she had gone there to take a loan by depositing gold ornaments.

The miscreants tried to snatch her bag. As she opposed them and shouted for help, one of the accused shot at the woman. The miscreants fled in a motorcycle which was parked in front of the office. The employees of the financial institution alleged that the miscreants looted ornaments worth few crore of rupees. The local people also found that the miscreants were carrying bags containing valuables while fleeing from the spot on their motorcycle.

Ghosh was rushed by the local residents to Balaram Medical Hospital with a bullet wound on her head. Senior police officials rushed to the spot immediately after the incident. Police have started a detailed probe into the incident and raids are on to nab the culprits.