Kolkata: A jewellery shop owner in Mukundapur had his throat slashed while thwarting a robbery attempt by a nursing staff member of a nearby private hospital who came to the shop posing as a customer. The shop owner, however, held on to the attacker, calling for help until others in the shop came to his rescue and nabbed the attacker.
"The accused, Dipankar Pal, said he suffered a huge loss in the stock market and was neck-deep in debt. He said he badly needed money and thus entered the shop with the intention to commit robbery. There was another youth with him. We have detained him for questioning," said a senior officer of Kolkata Police.
The incident occurred in broad daylight in a busy market area of Mukundapur when victim Sanjay Sarkar, a resident of Dinesh Nagar off Bypass, was sitting inside his shop around 11:15 am. Sarkar underwent five stitches on his throat and is admitted to the ICU of the same hospital where his attacker worked. A spokesperson of the hospital said Pal had not reported to work on Sunday and after learning about the crime, they had terminated his service.
Police said Pal visited the shop three days ago and checked two gold chains valued at Rs 1.4 lakh. On Sunday, Pal came again and asked Sarkar to show him the same pair of chains.
"Sarkar said he brought out the two chains when the youth asked him to show another one. He bent down to pick that when the youth grabbed them and tried to flee. However, he held him by the collar and raised an alarm. Pal then brought out a knife and began slashing him. He still somehow managed to close the glass door on Pal while holding the collar. The youth then slashed his throat," said Ranadhir Baidya, an employee of the shop.
Ranadhir, along with another employee, Sukhdeb Mondal, and a few other shop owners in the area, came to Sarkar's rescue and caught hold of Pal. The other youth, who was waiting outside, was also caught by other shop owners and beaten up before cops reached the spot and took them to the police station.
Police said Pal, a resident of Tripura, used to stay on rent at a flat near the hospital. "We are verifying his claims," said the officer.