Mysore/Mysuru: The Hunsur jewellery showroom manager was alerted to the robbery by a monitoring team in Kerala that was watching the live CCTV feed.

The store manager, Asgar, was on his lunch break between 1.30 pm and 3.30 pm. The showroom is part of a chain with four other branches in Kerala and a head office there, all linked through a centralised CCTV network that allows remote monitoring.

When five helmet-clad, armed men entered the showroom at 2.10 pm, a few customers were present inside. The CCTV monitoring team was alarmed on seeing the assailants brandishing firearms and threatening the staff and customers.

The team immediately alerted Asgar, who was unaware of the heist at the time. He rushed towards the showroom and pulled down the shutters to prevent the robbers from escaping.

However, assailants pointed their weapons at him and threatened to kill him, forcing him to retreat. The robbers then continued stuffing gold and diamond ornaments into their bags before opening the shutters and fleeing the scene.