Chennai: A three-member gang murdered a 57-year-old pawnbroker at his shop on Arcot Road in Virugambakkam and got away with two kg of gold worth over Rs 50 lakh on Wednesday.
The victim, L.Heera Ram, a resident of Bangaru Naidu Colony in K.K.Nagar, has been running the pawn broker shop Anand Bankers for close to 40 years in a 10 X 10 shop.
Police said that the assailants posed as customers and entered the shop. “Since the victim was found unconscious lying in a pool of blood near the safety lockers, we suspect that they could have engaged him a transaction before attacking the victim,” a police officer said.
The attack came to light after his son Anand (26), a chartered accountant, visited the shop at around 8 pm. Police said that Heera Ram was found with multiple stab injuries on his head and hands.
Anand, with the help of locals, moved him to the nearby private hospital where he died during the early hours of Thursday. Preliminary investigations revealed that the attack could have taken place at around 6.30 pm. Doctors at a private hospital in Vadapalani said the victim had suffered a huge loss of blood leading to his death.
Investigators said that there were no CCTV cameras installed in the shop. But, they are in possession of CCTV grabs recovered from a nearby installation and are pursuing a few leads.
