TWO armed bandits descended on the Mon Repos Market yesterday afternoon and robbed goldsmith, Bissoon Phulchand of an undetermined quantity of gold jewellery.

Phulchand told the Chronicle he was doing a piercing for a young lady when the men attacked him. He said he would usually do piercings outside his stall, but because the customer was a relative of one of his business colleagues, he decided to break with tradition and do it inside instead.
Phulchand said he had already done one ear, and was about to pierce the other when a man pushed the grill and entered the stall.
The would-be assailant then cranked the gun he was carrying, and ordered him and the young lady not to say a word or move, lest he shoots them.
The jeweller said after appraising the situation, he felt the area was too crowded for the man to make good on his promise to shoot, so he decided to shout “Thief!”
But as he did so, the bandit fired a shot at him, which Phulchand was able to dodge. In the melee, the intruder’s accomplice entered the stall, took off the motorcycle helmet he was wearing, and proceeded to toss items from the showcase into it.
That done, Phulchand said, the bandits made to leave, but the first one returned and, cranking his weapon, began looking around the stall to see what he had missed.
Satisfied there was nothing more to cart off, the bandit then took his leave, and Phulchand took the opportunity to again shout “Thief!”
By the time he plucked up the courage to venture outside the stall, the men were almost out of sight. He later learnt they had made their escape on a motorcycle.
Phulchand told the Chronicle that this was the third time he was robbed. The first was in 2003, and the other in 2011, when the ordeal caused his wife to lose her baby.
He also recalled a recent attempt to rob him at a traffic light in the city.
Phulchand said he had tried on a number of occasions to obtain a firearm, but without success.
When the Chronicle visited Phulchand’s stall late yesterday, the police had not yet arrived on the scene.