Kamal Ghorui
LUCKNOW: In a sensational daylight robbery on Thursday, a burqa-clad woman looted a jewellery shop in Ayodhya, threatening the man on cash counter with a pistol and decamping with a Rs 3.6 lakh gold chain with the help of her boyfriend who was waiting outside the shop on a motorcycle.On Friday, police arrested both the accused and disclosed that the burqa-clad accused was a Hindu, 21-yearold Payal Kori, and her boyfriend, Rahul Kumar (27). She is pregnant and was carrying a toy gun to commit the crime.They were nabbed while allegedly attempting to flee the district. Police said the duo had carefully planned the robbery and used disguise to avoid identification.According to officials, the incident took place around 12:30 pm in the Kothi Bazar area under Rudauli Kotwali limits of Ayodhya.“Payal, wearing a burqa and carrying a backpack, entered a jewellery shop posing as a customer and asked to see a gold necklace and chain. After engaging the shopkeeper in conversation and asking for water and snacks, she waited for the staff to be distracted,” said SSP, Ayodhya, Gaurav Grover.At an opportune moment, she picked up a gold necklace and chain weighing about 26 grams, valued at approximately Rs 3.6 lakh. When the shopkeeper tried to stop her, she pulled out a pistol from her waist and threatened to shoot before fleeing, the SSP added.She ran out of the shop and escaped on a motorcycle driven by Rahul, who was waiting nearby. The entire incident was captured on multiple CCTV cameras installed at the shop and along the escape route.Theft was well planned, say Bunty & BabliPolice formed multiple teams and scanned footage from nearly 60 CCTV cameras to trace the motorcycle’s registration number. This led them to Rahul, and subsequently to Payal. Both were arrested near the Barabanki border.Additional director general of police (Lucknow Zone) Praveen Kumar said the accused were acting like “Bunty and Babli” -characters from Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee-starrer -and had used a toy pistol to carry out the robbery.“During the interrogation, the duo reportedly confessed to planning the crime in advance. Rahul had purchased the burqa and toy gun from the market, while Payal executed the robbery inside the shop,” said SHO, Rudauli, Sanjay Maurya, who conducted the probe.Police said Payal had recently returned to her parental home in Ayodhya to appear for her intermediate examinations, while her husband works in Punjab. Police said that the two had wanted to buy a house by doing heist in the city and had also planned in the adjoining areas.
