Ghaziabad, Sept. 15 -- Five masked men allegedly broke into the house of a scrap dealer in Kalchina village in Bhojpur early Monday morning, filled the rooms with chilli smoke and held the family at gunpoint before fleeing with cash and jewellery.

The incident took place around 3 a.m. while the family was asleep. The house, located near a cemetery, also has a grocery shop in its front portion. Police said the accused allegedly entered after breaking the lock of the shop.

According to the complaint, the burglars then burned chilli near a cooler outside the room where the family was sleeping. The cooler drew the smoke inside, causing irritation in the family's eyes and waking them.

When the dealer's wife, Afrozi, opened the door after hearing the disturbance, the men allegedly surrounded her. One pointed a country-made pistol and a knife at her, while the others threatened her six children.

The dealer, sleeping in another room, came out after hearing his wife's screams. When he tried to raise an alarm, the accused allegedly pointed guns at the children's heads and threatened to kill them. They then tied the dealer's hands and legs with his wife's dupatta.

The men demanded to know where the family kept its gold, silver and cash. When Afrozi refused to disclose the location, one accused allegedly attacked her with a sharp-edged weapon, injuring her hand. The robbers then removed jewellery from her body and took the key to a safe from the dealer's pocket.

They allegedly fled with around Rs 1 lakh in cash, a pair of anklets, gold earrings, gold ear ornaments, silver toe rings and other valuables.

ACP Modinagar Siddharth Gautam said police received information about unidentified men entering the house around 3.30 a.m. An FIR has been registered based on the family's complaint and several teams have been formed to identify the accused.

Police are examining CCTV footage from nearby areas and checking call records of people connected to the family and those living nearby. Officials suspect the robbers may have been familiar with the house and known where the valuables were kept, raising the possibility that someone known to the family provided information about the property.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.