Two shot dead by armed robbers in Jajpur

 Jajpur: Two persons, including a jewellery store employee, were shot dead by armed men during a daylight robbery attempt outside the gold jewellery shop at Panikoili in Jajpur district on Saturday.

Nila Madhab Panda, belonging to Soti village, died after sustaining a bullet wound in the stomach. Another person, identified as Sunil Kumar Ray, the employee of Panda Alankar at Panikoili, who was going to a nationalised bank at Panikoili to deposit the jewellery shop’s cash, took a bullet on his thigh and was admitted to the district head-quarters hospital in a critical condition. However, he succumbed to his bullet injury after being brought to Bhubaneswar for treatment.

The incident occurred between 1 pm and 1.30 pm on a stretch between the jewellery shop and the bank branch at Panikoili.

Sources said Ray was going to the bank on motorcycle to deposit the cash when four armed robbers on two motorcycles tried to snatch his cash. They reportedly opened fire at him, injuring him critically. Hearing Ray’s scream, locals rushed to the spot. Antici-pating trouble, the miscreants opened fire at them following which a bullet hit Panda and he died on the spot.

Locals present at the spot chased the armed miscreants. Two of them were overpowered and detained by the locals while two others managed to escape. Chaos and tension pre-vailed in the area as a large crowd gathered around the scene littered with a pistol and bullet casings. The crowd also thrashed the two robbers and they sustained critical inju-ries.

On being informed, police arrived at the spot and took the two apprehended accused into custody. Police later sent them to the district headquarters hospital for treatment.

Senior police officials are investigating the case from all angles.