Chennai: A gun-toting gang tried to execute a robbery at a pawn shop in the busy Royapettah area on Sunday morning. Alert public managed to overpower one of the gang members while the others managed to escape from the scene.
At around 10.30 am on Sunday, Munna Lal was getting ready to open his pawn shop attached to his house on Jani Jahan Khan Street, Royapettah. The maid Vanitha had just opened the door of the house after cleaning the hall when the gang got there. "One of the gang members entered the house, walked through the door connecting the pawn shop and pointed a gun at Munna Lal.
“I saw it and started shouting when he put another gun in my mouth,” recalled a shocked Vanitha during her interaction with reporters later. She had suffered minor injuries to her mouth after the suspect tried to threaten her by moving the gun inside her mouth.
Hearing her cries, one Balasubramanium entered the house and helped the family members to overpower Ravi Kanth Singh, a native of UP. He had guns, bullets, sickles and 3 SIM cards in his possession when he was handed over to the police. “Munna Lal, his wife, his mother and Balasubramanim together had overpowered the suspect,” police said.
While pointing gun at Munna Lal, Ravi Kanth Singh reportedly told him in Hindi that he was not planning to kill anybody. But he insisted that all the valuables should be handed over as otherwise he would not hesitate to shoot. However, Munna Lal with the help of locals, managed to overpower and tie up Ravi Kanth Singh. Sensing trouble, his associates escaped.
Ravi Kanth Singh later gave the police an address on East Coast Road where his associates were staying. Police went to that address and nabbed three youths and brought them to the Ice House police station.
At the station, however, Vanitha and other witnesses told the police that the three picked up from ECR were not the three who came with Ravi Kanth Singh. Police believe that Ravi Kanth, who reportedly visited the pawn shop a week back, could have deliberately misled the investigators.
This is first time gun-toting North Indian gang is attempting robbery in the last five years after a five-member North Indian gang, which looted 2 banks at gun point, was gunned down by police in February 2012.
