More than 30 kg of gold was stolen from Mannappuram gold loan's Gurgaon branch, say sources
In a major day light heist, seven armed men today allegedly looted gold and Rs 5 lakh in cash from Mannappuram gold loan branch at new railway road in Gurgaon, police said.
They also attacked with a knife and injured a guard, Mukesh Kumar, and a customer who has been admitted to a hospital with multiple stab wounds and is currently undergoing treatment.
According to police, seven persons posing as customers, entered the branch at around 11.30 AM and held hostage four employees, including a woman, two guards and few customers.
They also sprayed foam on CCTV cameras to avoid being identified.
They forcefully took the keys of the store room from the employees, broke open the lockers and took away significant quantity of gold jewellery and cash, they said.
However, the police could not confirm the quantity of gold looted but sources said that it was more than 30 kilograms.
Gurgaon Police Commissioner, Sandeep Khirwar, who rushed to the spot, said around seven to eight armed robbers entered in the private gold finance firm and looted some kilograms gold.
"Our forensic and crime investigating teams are probing the incident and have got significant lead despite robbers having tried to block CCTV cameras. The branch manager was asked to find out the actual quantity of gold jewelries looted," he said.
Meanwhile, in a statement, the company termed it an unfortunate incident and assured the affected customers that they will not be put to loss.
"The management of Manappuram Finance Ltd assures that the interest of our customers and security of their gold jewelry is our first priority. We confirm that the gold jewellery kept in the branch is fully insured and that the affected customers will not be put to loss on this account," a company spokesperson said.
The New Railway Road branch of the company was targeted by a gang of armed robbers who overpowered the security guard on duty and physically assaulted the branch staff before looting the gold. The company promptly alerted the police and all necessary information including CCTV footage from the surveillance cameras has been shared with them.
"The company uses a combination of security guards and electronic security to secure its branches across the country.
An advanced centrally monitored electronic security system links all our branches to ensure that customers' gold is fully protected," the statement said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)