By IANS,
Ghaziabad : Markets in this Uttar Pradesh town remained closed Thursday to protest a spate of robberies targeting jewellery shops and other commercial establishments.
The traders assailed the state police for not being able to prevent the robberies or arrest the criminals.
“Jewellery shops in Ghaziabad are the soft targets for the criminals as the police have miserably failed to protect us,” Ravi Verma, the general secretary of the Jewellers’ Association said, adding the police were also unable to solve any robbery till now.
A gang of four armed criminals Wednesday night barged into a jewellery shop at Shalimar Garden area of the city as shop owner Rakesh Soni was downing the shutters. Holding him captive inside the shop at a gun point, the four looted cash and jewellery worth over Rs. 2 million.
After managing to free himself, Soni informed the police and told them that the criminals had fled towards Delhi.
But, Verma said, the police failed to nab the criminals even 12 hours after the incident.
“Our association would stage a massive demonstration at the district headquarters if the case is not worked out within 24 hours and culprits not booked under stringent sections of the law,” he said.
Earlier a jewellery shop owner in Vasundhara area was shot dead by robbers when he tried to resist. The police have not solved the case so far, Verma added.