Lahan, August 3:

A gang of armed dacoits looted jewellery and cash worth about Rs 18 lakh from three jewellery shops in Shiva Chowk, Golbazaar, last night. Shocked by the incident, the shopkeepers closed their shops today.

Even though the residents of the bazaar had called security personnel for help, they arrived only this morning, the chairman of the Golbazaar Business Association, Dev Nath Shah, said. Terming it the biggest robbery occurring in Golbazaar, he said adequate security arrangements must be made to prevent similar incidents.

The victims said dacoits looted gold and silver ornaments worth Rs 15 lakh from the Suhag Jewellers, Rs 2 lakh from the Santosh Jewellers and Rs 75,000 from the Sanjay Jewellers.

“The dacoits broke into my shop at around 12 pm, held a three-year-old child at gunpoint, and looted all the cash and ornaments from my house and shop,” said Rajesh Agrawal of the Suhag Jewellers.

Santosh Kumar Shah of the Santosh Jewellers said the dacoits took away all the jewelleries made for the customers after they failed to break open the safe. Locals said the dacoits had taken the whole bazaar under their control and terrified them for at least one-and-a-half-hour by detonating explosives and firing.

While the Ranasingh Battalion of the Royal Nepali Army is seven km away from Golbazaar, the Area Police Office and an additional security unit of the Ranasingh Battalion are located 17 km away from the bazaar.