Gorakhpur: On Monday afternoon, a jeweller’s shop in the city became the scene of a brazen heist. Two youths walked in as customers, then seized the moment to snatch roughly 20 grams of gold before bolting. Yet the shop owner’s 18-year-old daughter refused to freeze. She gave chase for nearly 100 metres, caught one by the wrist, brought him down, and struck back.She cut her hand in the struggle, and though the accused slipped away, her courage held them to account.Acting swiftly, five accused were arrested after a police encounter on Wednesday, in which two of them sustained bullet injuries in their legs during retaliatory firing.Police said the injured were taken to a community health centre and later referred to the district hospital. Police seized two .315 bore country-made pistols, live and empty cartridges, Rs 15,500 cash, four pairs of gold earrings, a silver ring, two motorcycles, a digital weighing machine and a mobile phone.SP (South) Dinesh Kumar Puri said, “After the April 27 robbery, six teams along with surveillance were deployed. During a check near Dhuriyapar sugar mill, five suspects on two bikes opened fire and tried to flee. In retaliatory action, two were injured.”The arrested have been identified as Rehan, Mehdi Hasan, Shagir Ali, Mustafa and Afzal Ali. Rehan has a prior criminal record, police said, adding that the background of others is being verified.The robbery took place at Devansh Swarnkala Kendra, where two men posing as customers snatched gold earrings while the owner’s minor daughter Amrita Verma was alone. She briefly caught one accused, who later escaped.During interrogation, the accused said they had surveyed the shop, posing as spectacle vendors, and had changed the bike plates before the crime.
