After shooting, Agra jewellers on strike

Agra  :  Jewellery shops all over Agra were shut Monday to protest the attempted murder of a leading jeweller, Anand Agarwal, on the busy Mahatma Gandhi Road.

Prominent Agra jeweller Anand Agarwal was shot at and critically wounded by unidentified assailants on a motorcycle, prompting jewellers across this city of the Taj to strike work Monday, police said.

Agarwal, who is president of the Sarafa Committee, the jewellers’ association, was attacked late Sunday near Anjna Cinema on MG Road. He was on his scooter, driving home to his Awagarh Colony house from his shop in Chaubeyji ka Phatak, the main centre of jewellers and bullion traders in the city, when the bullets were fired.

Dhan Raj Jain, secretary of the jewellers’ association, said all jewellery shops in the city will remain closed indefinitely till the killers were nabbed.

The Agra Bullion Association and half-a-dozen other market committees have joined the protest.

Meanwhile, Agarwal’s family said he was still in serious condition at Gurgaon’s Medant Hospital.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Dinesh Kumar told IANS: “Investigations are on. So far we have no clues but we are working on all angles.”

Agra is in turmoil following a series of robberies, hold-ups as well as kidnappings.