Mumbai, Feb 25 (PTI) A 40-year-old man armed with a pistol and dressed in a burqa on Tuesday attempted to loot a jewellery shop where he was employed earlier, police said.

The accused, Mangal Singh Gulab Singh Devda, has been arrested, they said.

He had worked in the outlet that he targeted, Swarndeep Jewellers, located in Prabhadevi, central Mumbai, before 2017, the police said.

Devda, armed with a country-made pistol, entered the outlet around 4:30 pm along with a burqa-clad woman and threatened two salesmen after getting into an argument with them over an order placed earlier by the latter, they said.

His attempt to loot the outlet failed when staffers raised an alarm and he was caught with the help of passers-by, the police added.

"The accused, along with the woman - both dressed in burqas - entered the shop in the afternoon. The woman had come to the shop three days ago and given Rs 5,000 in advance to purchase gold ornaments worth Rs 5 lakh.

"The two asked the shop's staffers to show the ornaments she had ordered. After seeing the ornaments, the man got into an argument with two salesmen.

"Devda then whipped out the pistol and threatened the salesmen, who started screaming for help," the police said.

The two got scared and ran out of the shop.

"In between, the salesmen informed the police control room and a huge crowd, which had gathered outside, caught Devda," said an officer.

His woman accomplice, however, managed to escape from the spot, he said.

The Dadar police, late in the evening, registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal code and arrested the accused.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)