Bangalore : A jeweller was brutally murdered in broad daylight and his shop looted on the busy ESI Hospital junction in Rajajinagar on Saturday afternoon.

Shravan Kumar (45), owner of Rishab Jewellers, was found stabbed and bludgeoned to death. The police said the murder took place between 2.30 p.m. and 3.30 p.m.

The victim was alone in his shop when the assailants turned up pretending to be customers. He is believed to have been viciously attacked when he tried to resist the intruders, who dumped his body under the table where he sat.

The assailants then ransacked the premises and got away with valuables as well as the CCTV system along with the recording box with them. The value of the looted items has not been computed yet. The police suspect the assailants could have been watching Mr. Shravan Kumar’s movements before attacking him.

None of the people in the neighbouring shops suspected anything even as the horrific attack and robbery was going on.

The crime came to light when a goldsmith, who was summoned by Mr. Shravan Kumar for some work, came there and found the shop ransacked. On investigating further, to his horror, he found the victim under the table covered with blood. Shrieking for help, he ran out, after which Venugopal, the proprietor of the optical shop next door, went to the shop and asked him to call the police.

As the victim is BJP leader Lehar Singh’s brother-in-law, Law Minister S. Suresh Kumar, accompanied by Mr. Singh, rushed to the spot.

Mr. Venugopal said his neighbour had been running the shop alone for the past five years and had no employee. “He was a decent man who kept to himself most of the time.”

Mr. Shravan Kumar opened his shop a little late on Saturday. In fact, the cleaning woman waited for him to open but returned home after a while. He came around 11.30 a.m. and opened the shop partially. The main door was shut and he used the side door, Mr. Venugopal said.

Though the assailants tried to outwit the police by sabotaging the CCTV system at the shop, CCTV cameras installed by the traffic police at the ESI Hospital junction have captured their images. The police have sent them to the automation centre for verification. The police are also checking his former employees’ antecedents.

Joint Commissioner of Police S. Murugan told “We suspect there could be more than one person involved. We have formed a special team to analyse the evidence.”

Mr. Shravan Kumar, a Girinagar resident, leaves his wife and two children. While Rishab is a PU student, his daughter Sneha is a commerce undergraduate. The Hindu