Bandra: Unidentified assailants shot dead a 46-year-old jeweler before fleeing with his bag containing gold and silver jewelery at a weekly market in Gorilla-Bandra-Marwahi district of Chhattisgarh, police said on Wednesday.
A police official said that the incident occurred late on Tuesday evening in the market in Kotmi village when jeweler Pradeep Soni was packing his jewelery after the market closed.
Local merchants organized a march on Wednesday to protest the incident.
The official said Soni, a resident of Bandra town and runs a jewelery shop there, went to the market located 16 km away to sell jewellery.
According to preliminary information, three people arrived at the scene on a motorcycle and tried to snatch valuables from him. The official said that when Sonny resisted the robbery attempt, they opened fire in the middle of the crowded market, seriously wounding him.
The incident caused panic in the market, and the accused fled after looting the jewelry.
The official said that local residents took the injured merchant to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
The police arrived at the scene immediately after receiving information and opened an investigation.
The official added that efforts are underway to identify and trace the attackers.
Family members of the deceased claimed that the attackers looted ornaments, including gold and silver jewellery, worth about $50 lakh.
The murder in one of the region’s largest weekly markets sparked widespread anger among local merchants, who were celebrating on Wednesday to protest the incident.
A large number of people gathered at the area hospital where the body was kept. Relatives of the deceased demanded the arrest of the attackers before allowing an autopsy to be conducted.
Senior police officials were at the scene and monitoring the situation.
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