Diamonds worth Rs 50 lakh looted

SURAT: In an incident which sent shockwaves through the community of diamond merchants, three unidentified gunmen fired at two employees while they were travelling on a motorcycle to a diamond processing unit and snatched a bag containing rough diamonds worth Rs 50 lakh, at around noon near Umiya Mata Dham in Varachha on Tuesday.
Though such incidents are common in Surat, the loot in this case was the highest in many years.According to assistant commissioner of police M R Joshi, the victims Bharat Patel and Pranav Patel, who work in a processing unit owned by Bharat Khaini, had collected the rough diamonds from their main office near Oasis hotel. At Varachha, Bharat was hit on the head by a person with an iron rod.
As Bharat stopped his motorcycle, two other gangsters came on a bike and tried to snatch the bag from Pranav who was riding pillion on the bike. When Panav tried to resist, one of the gangsters fired at him, hitting him on the shoulder. The gangsters then snatched the bag and fled away from the scene on a motorcycle.
Both the victims were rushed to nearby Ashakta Hospital where they are stated to be out of danger. Police have launched a combing operation in the city, Joshi said. A case was registered and further investigations are going on, he said.