Seven armed youths on Sunday looted Rs 6 lakh from two wholesale medicine stores on Govind Mitra Road in daylight, sending chill down the spine of druggists.

The gang of seven split into two groups and raided the shops Ambika Agency and Kalyani Pharma in Prafulla Commercial Complex between 1pm and 1.15pm. The team of four pocketed Rs 4.5 lakh at Ambika Agency. The other looted Rs 1.5 lakh at Kalyani Pharma. Both the teams left the shops warning their owners and employees of dire consequences if they raised an alarm. The youths walked out of the two shops pulling their shutters down and fled on two-wheelers parked a little distance away. The operation lasted about 20 minutes.

According to sources, the gang members were aged between 18 and 20 years. Besides desi katta (countrymade firearms), they wielded sharp-edged traditional weapons.

Manish Kumar Makharia, the owner of Kalyani Pharma, said: Normally my shop remains closed on Sunday. But I kept the store open today because internal audit was to be carried out. I had prior appointment with a charted accountant for filing the income tax return on time.

Manish said before he or his employees could react, the operation was over. They (criminals) all were carrying arms. The money that the criminals took away from my shops locker could not be deposited in the bank because transactions are not carried out after noon on Saturdays, Manoj told the police.

Rajesh Kumar Munka, the owner of Ambika Agency, said the youths had covered their forehead with a piece of cloth (handkerchief) like professional criminals.

Woh professional ki tarah lag rahe the (They appeared to be professional criminals), he added.

Pirbhore police station house officer (SHO) Rahmat Ali said cops rushed to the spot immediately after getting information about the incident. The entire operation has been recorded in the CCTV installed in one of the two shops, he said, adding that the identity of the criminals would be ascertained with the help of the video footage.

The officer said both the shops are located at a distance from the main Ashok Rajpath. How did the criminals come to know that the shops were open today is a matter of investigation, he said.

The SHO did not rule out the involvement of people of the area in the crime. I saw one of the criminals wearing chappals (slippers) in the video footage, he added.

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Heist in medicine stores