BENGALURU: A woman working at a shop in Bengaluru’s Indiranagar was held at knifepoint, threatened with murder and had her hands stuck to a table with Fevikwik after a man barged into the shop and attempted to snatch her gold chain on October 31.Alert locals rushed to her rescue, overpowered the accused and handed him over to the police.The incident occurred around 11.45am in the Indiranagar police station limits. The accused, identified as Prabhuraj alias Raj, allegedly walked into the shop and initially pretended that someone was chasing him and trying to kill him, asking the woman to shelter him.However, he soon turned on her, allegedly pulling out a knife and holding it against her neck. He threatened her and demanded her gold chain, reportedly weighing 35 grams and valued at around Rs 4.5 lakh.In an attempt to prevent her from resisting or escaping, the accused allegedly poured Fevikwik on both her hands and stuck them to the shop table. He then attempted to take the chain from her neck.Locals overpower accused, rescue womanThe woman screamed for help as the accused tried to snatch her chain. Hearing her cries, neighbouring shopkeepers and passersby rushed into the shop.Realising that he was surrounded, Prabhuraj held the knife against her neck and threatened to kill her if anyone came closer. He allegedly tried to use the woman as a shield to escape from the crowd.However, locals managed to divert his attention, overpower him and rescue the woman before handing him over to Indiranagar police.The woman was subsequently rescued and taken to hospital. She was reported to have escaped without serious injuries.Accused arrested, remanded to judicial custodyPolice registered a case at Indiranagar police station and arrested Prabhuraj. He was subsequently remanded to judicial custody.The accused reportedly worked as a delivery agent. Police are verifying his background and investigating the circumstances surrounding the attempted chain snatching.A video showing the accused threatening the woman and dragging her during the incident has since surfaced on social media, triggering concern over the safety of people working in shops.
