Indian-origin jewellers robbed in UK

Birstall is on the outskirts of Leicester where several robberies and break-ins of jewellery shops owned by Indian-origin businessmen have been reported in recent months,mainly fuelled by the rising price of gold.

The robbery happened on November 27,which was Lata Shah and her husband Hasmukh’s 30th wedding anniversary.

Since the raid,the couple have kept the door of their shop locked. Customers have to knock before they are let in.

Lata Shah,48,said: “I heard the door open and I thought it was just a customer,but there were two men in balaclavas.

The one with the knife in his hand ran up to me and said ‘Don’t move’. The knife was two inches from my chest”.

She added: “The other one was already smashing the window displays from the inside using a hammer and putting the rings in a bag.

“We’ve started keeping the door locked since. It’s been difficult to come back at all”.

Hasmukh Shah,52,said,”The rings were worth a lot of money and it was stock we had carefully chosen and built up over our four years since opening the shop here. It was all insured but we are both very badly shaken. Nothing like this has happened to us before.”

The couple said the robbers were seen by a number of witnesses. One took down the number plate of their car but it turned out to be false.