Jeweller shot at during robbery, 2 held after encounter

New Delhi, Aug 2 (IANS) A 46-year-old man was shot in his face by two people during a robbery bid in the national capital's Najafgarh area on Tuesday.

The accused, both juveniles, were apprehended during an encounter by the police within three hours of commission of the crime. During the encounter, one of the robbers was shot in his leg.

In a media briefing, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) M. Harsh Wardhan said a PCR call was received around 12 p.m. at Najafgarh police station regarding the firing incident at a jewellery shop.

"It was found that a shop of silver jewellery was targeted by two robbers. The shop was manned by Rajesh, the brother of owner Mukesh at the time of the incident," the DCP said.

According to the senior official, the two robbers came to the shop and looted about Rs 25,000 from the cash box and also fired at Rajesh who suffered a bullet injury in his face (right jaw) and was shifted to a hospital for treatment.

The police immediately swung into action and a team of a dozen cops was constituted to crack the case.

Based on CCTV footage and technical surveillance, the police team narrowed down the location of both the accused to Haibat Pur area of Najafgarh. They were on the roof of a building, the official said.

"Around 2:40 p.m., as a police team reached to catch them, one of the two accused fired one round from his weapon," Wardhan said, adding the police also retaliated and fired two rounds, of which one hit the accused in his leg.

The injured accused was then immediately rushed to the hospital for treatment.

"Both the accused claimed to be 17 years of age and are residents of Jhajjar district of Haryana," said the official.

During preliminary interrogation, it was revealed that five of them came to the Najafgarh area to commit robberies. Of the five, two were dropped at this location.

The police said they have identified the co-accused people and raids are being conducted to nab them.