Dacoits strike at grocers

PUNE, Dec 21: Cash and valuables worth Rs 60,000 were taken away in two separate incidents by unidentified thieves who assaulted the owners of a shop in Ghorpadi and a petrol pump at Junnar last night.

Three unidentified persons entered the Shreeram Market, a grocery in Ghorpadi around 9.15 p.m and asked for ten kgs of rice from the shop owner Ramniwas Sardar Agarwal. Agarwal was about to close shop when one of the persons waiting outside the shop pulled down the shutter, while the other two armed with knives assaulted Agarwal and another employee. The duo snatched Rs 16,500 in cash, a gold chain and a ring from Agarwal and fled.

In another incident, three unidentified persons armed with a revolver and chopper looted Rs 30,000 from a petrol pump at Junnar yesterday evening.