Chandigarh, June 17 -- For years, chemists at Shri Kumar Medical Hall, Sector 11, were used to seeing people walking in wearing surgical masks. Sometimes it would be patients not wanting to catch or spread an infection, sometimes it would be harried medical professionals rushing to grab a stash of essential medicines. But never someone suspicious.

Last Saturday, however, their idea of masked men changed forever. Two miscreants walked in, wearing medical grade masks, and shot dead the cashier, Janki Das, pumping seven to eight bullets into his body with an automatic 9mm pistol.

Still trying to recover from the trauma, most shop owners in the market have now put up notices at their doors, asking customers to remove their hoodies, caps and...