The thieves walked into the shop, on the second floor of a four-storey business complex in Gulmandi at 3.15 pm, fired one shot to frighten the salesgirls and doorman and then emptied the showcases containing ornaments before exiting 15 minutes later. Only two salesgirls and a doorman were in the 400 sq ft showroom, owned by Janakraj Kantilal Soni, at the time.

Shivaji Jadhav, the doorman, says he instantly recognised two of the men, who had visited the shop at around 11.30 am today and inquired about a gold necklace.

As soon as the trio were inside, they slammed the doorshut and fired one shot into the ground to scare the occupants. Then, flashing their revolvers and knives, they shoved the salesgirls and doorman into to a corner. And, while one of them stood guard, the other two began emptying the shelves displaying ornaments into two bags. At one point, they even made the salesgirls assist them, Jadhav told the The Indian Express.Two of them were clad in jeans and white shirts, the doorman said.

While leaving, the thieves locked the door from the outside and were soon lost among the sea of shoppers in Gulmandi. It took the salesgirls 15 minutes to recover and telephone the shop-owner. Interestingly, the owner was on his way as no one was responding to his repeated phone calls. Soni was also scheduled to visit the commissioner of police this afternoon to renew his revolver licence. Soni, who opened his showroom in October last year, said a preliminary check indicated that ornaments worth Rs 20 lakh and Rs 15,000 from the cash box were stolen. The dog squad was of littlehelp as the trail of the three youth ended a few metres from the shop. ``The trio probably took an autorickshaw from that point,'' commissioner of police, Shripad Kulkarni said. All roads leading away from the city have been cordoned off. Kulkarni said one or two of the trio may have been involved in another theft at another jewellery store in April 1998.