Jewellery worth Rs22 lakh looted from Saran trader

Patna: Motorcycle-borne criminals looted jewellery and cash worth around Rs22 lakh from a gold trader in Saran district on Sunday. The incident took place at Taraiya Bazar under Taraiya police station area when the trader was on his way to his shop around 10am carrying ornaments in his bike’s storage compartment.

According to police, four criminals waiting near BDS College at Ramkola intercepted the trader Satyendra Kumar, stopped his motorcycle at gunpoint and snatched the keys. They allegedly looted gold and silver jewellery, cash and his mobile phone before fleeing from the spot.

Satyendra, a resident of Taraiya Bazar, runs Kanchan Jewellers at Faridpur Mathiya. He told police that four criminals riding two motorcycles surrounded him during the robbery. The looted items included around 2kg silver ornaments, 100 grams of gold jewellery, Rs30,000 cash and a mobile phone kept in the bike’s dickey.

Police said the criminals later threw the victim’s mobile phone in a field around 200 metres away before escaping.

The incident triggered protests by local traders and residents, who blocked the road at Taraiya Bazar alleging delay in police response. Traffic movement remained disrupted for nearly an hour, resulting in long queues of vehicles.

Local gold trader Rajeev Kumar Gupta alleged that despite visiting Taraiya police station to lodge a complaint, no immediate action was taken. Protesters demanded swift arrest of the accused and recovery of the looted items.

Police later reached the spot and persuaded protesters to withdraw the blockade.

Madhaura-II SDPO Sanjay Kumar Sudhanshu said a special police team had launched an investigation. “CCTV footage from around the crime scene is being examined. Technical teams are also probing through mobile surveillance. An FIR has been lodged based on the victim’s application,” he said.

The SDPO added the accused have been identified and they would be arrested soon.