Armed miscreants looted a Tanishq jewellery showroom in Purnea town in Bihar, around 320km northeast from the state capital, in broad daylight on Friday.

The robbers decamped with gold and diamond jewellery worth crores of rupees, sending shockwaves across the state amid the fast-deteriorating law and order situation.

The incident occurred around 12.10pm at the store located in the Line Bazar area of the town. The value of the looted ornaments is still being assessed, though Purnea superintendent of police (SP) Upendra Nath Verma said that they “could be worth around ₹2.5 crore”.

“At least seven people carrying firearms were involved in the crime. They had entered the store at around 12.10 pm. There has been no breakthrough in the incident so far. We are investigating it from all angles,” Verma told The Telegraph.

However, sources said that the value of the looted ornaments could go up once the assessment was complete.

The miscreants, all in their twenties, entered the store, took the staff and customers hostage at gunpoint, snatched their mobile phones, and locked them up in a room on the first floor of the building.

They collected whatever jewellery they could, stashed them in bags, and escaped
on motorcycles within 20 minutes.

A couple of them were wearing masks, while others did not bother to cover their faces. Some of them were
holding guns in both their hands.

Meanwhile, muscleman Purnea MP Rakesh Ranjan aka Pappu Yadav targeted chief minister Nitish Kumar and Bihar police over the
brazen loot of the jewellery showroom.

“Nitish Kumar ji, your Purnea police is incompetent and patronise the criminals. It is incapable of upholding peace and harmony. If you allow me, I will eradicate criminals from Purnea with people’s help. All criminals will go away from this area within 24 hours,” Yadav said.

The Opposition Mahagathbandhan has been continuously protesting the rising crime graph in Bihar and raised the issue vociferously during the state legislature’s monsoon session that concluded on
Friday.