Two armed men took cash at gunpoint from the owner of a large stockist of betel leaves, paan masala and cigarettes at the capital’s commercial hub Upper Bazaar late on Tuesday, and almost as an afterthought, took away a box of cigarettes before they sped off.

The shop, on Bansidhar Adukia Road, one of the biggest shopping hubs of the state, has CCTV cameras. But, the faces of the two criminals were not visible, as one was masked and the other wore a helmet. The masked one pointed a gun at shop-owner Mahavir Gupta and both men collected around Rs 20,000 from the shop, said eye-witness and shop employee Vidyut Tiwari.

“The two youths reached our shop on a scooter when we were dealing with a customer. The masked one took my employer at gunpoint and helped his friend collect cash. The operation took less than five minutes. They spoke in Hindi among themselves. While leaving, the masked one took a box of cigarettes,” Tiwari told this reporter on Wednesday.

While Gupta is in shock, his son Yogesh, a final-year undergrad student of St Xavier’s College, said it seemed like the two men only wanted cash. “Thankfully, they did not harm my father. They did not even touch his mobile phone,” Yogesh, who runs the shop in the absence of his father, said.

On the response of the police, Yogesh said his father went to the police station, which is only 500 metres from the shop, to file a complaint on Tuesday night. “The police came in a few minutes. They have collected CCTV footage and have started an investigation,” he said.

No arrest has been made so far. City SP Saurabh Kumar, however, claimed they had some leads and expected an “early breakthrough” in this case. On the spurt in crime, the city SP advised people to be more alert and inform the police if they see anything suspicious, and dial 100 or contact the police control room (PCR) van without delay. He also asked shop owners to install CCTV cameras of good quality.

Federation of Jharkhand Chambers of Commerce and Industries president Kunal Ajmani said it appeared that criminals had no fear left for the police in Ranchi.

“The intelligence system of the police has failed, it seems. Also, it looks as if the situation (Ranchi crimes) will continue till junior officers (of the police force) are made accountable,” he said. “The trading community continues to feel extremely insecure.”

On October 14, brothers Rohit and Rahul Kheriwal where shot at inside their jewellery shop at Lalpur Chowk. The brothers are still under treatment at Apollo Hospital in New Delhi. The police have not been able to make any arrest in this case despite pressure from the business community.

One October 18, undertrial prisoner Ashish Ghosh, arrested in August last year for killing the owner of a private school and her 10-yr-old foster son, escaped from judicial custody from RIMS where he was being treated. Police have not yet nabbed Ghosh.

One October 24, criminals decamped with ornaments from a jewellery shop at Mahavir Chowk in Upper Bazar. Police are still groping in the dark in the case.