How Bengal police sub-inspector foiled robbers’ ₹4-crore jewellery heist in Raniganj

A seven-member robbery gang barged into a jewellery shop and attempted to carry out a ₹4 crore robbery in Raniganj, West Bengal. However, it was prevented with the help of a police official. CCTV camera footage shows sub-inspector Meghnad Mondal, from behind an electric pole, exchanging fire with the robbers.

The West Bengal Police, detailing the incident in a post on X, said about 20 rounds were fired before the robbers fled, leaving half their loot behind. One of the suspects has been arrested, and a search is ongoing for the others.

The incident occurred on Sunday afternoon around 12:30pm when masked robbers — with pistols, a machine gun, and a rifle — stormed into a renowned jewellery shop in the Tarbangla area. Their sudden entry terrified the shopowners and customers. Within minutes, the robbers seized jewellery worth over ₹4 crore.

The police said, “Heads and faces covered with helmets and towels, firearms in hand, threats and inaudible abuse. If it’s too much, the operation takes about five minutes. In that, jewellery worth more than four crore rupees was cleared from the shop. Now what? Carrying the booty in a white cloth bag and leaving on two bikes.”

However, SI Mondal, in charge of a nearby police outpost, was in the area for personal reasons, NDTV reported. Though in civilian clothes, he was carrying his service revolver. He noticed unusual activity near the jewellery shop and positioned himself behind an electric pole next to the shop as he readied his revolver.

It added, “Meghnad guessed that something was going wrong in the gold shop after seeing the frightened faces and hesitant running of the people. As he approached the shop, he took out the service revolver in his belt, and stood behind an electric pole, only six inches wide near the shop.”

A robber standing guard outside the shop saw him, alerted the others, and opened fire. For about 30 seconds, Mondal exchanged gunfire with the robbers, taking cover behind the pole. He managed to injure one robber, who fell to the ground. The others joined in the shooting. Despite being outnumbered, Mondal continued to shoot. The robbers, overwhelmed, decided to flee. They took their injured accomplice on a bike and escaped with jewellery worth ₹1.83 crore. They left behind another bike, ₹2.5 crore worth of jewellery, two backpacks, and 42 rounds of ammunition.

The police further said, “Apart from the bike, two backpacks full of clothes, 42 rounds of ammunition, a magazine, and a bag containing jewellery worth ₹2 crore 41 lakh were found at the spot.”

Mondal tried to run after them but to no avail. The news about the incident was delivered to all Naka posts and Jharkhand police, restricting the movement of the robbers.

The police added, “Four of the seven hijacked a car after shooting the driver in the Asansol-Dakshin Thana area. A pedestrian was also slightly injured in the shooting, but it did not help much either. With the help of the Jharkhand police, the car was seized quickly.”

On Tuesday, the police said in the thread, “Suraj Singh, a resident of Gopalganj area of ​​Giridi district, was arrested at the same time. Sonu Singh, who was injured in the shooting, was arrested in Bihar’s Siwan area yesterday, who is currently undergoing treatment in a hospital in Dhanbad. Based on the statements of the two accused, the rest of the gang will come up in our net very soon.”

The West Bengal police praised Mondal for fighting against the robbers without caring for his life and said, “Salute, just salute!”