Merchants robbed off three kilo gold

MADURAI: In a daring heist, an unidentified gang robbed golden jewels weighing three kilograms from two Kerala-based gold merchants after spraying chilly powder on their face in the city, Wednesday. Police said the merchants namely Jothi Rafel (40) and Vinod Kumar (36) from Thrissur came to Madurai in the wee hours. The merchants used to get orders from the local jewel shops to make variety of fancy golden jewels and supply them.

When they were on their way to the house of a bullion trader to supply golden jewels, they were waylaid by a six-member-gang at Sunnambukara Street. The gang members pounced on them and sprayed chilly powder. The gang robbed the yellow metal jewels and managed to escape under the cover of darkness.

The value of the robbed jewels was estimated at around Rs 1.50 crore. On a complaint from the merchants, police registered a case and launched a hunt to nab the culprits.