‘Extreme pain’: home-based jeweller, father shot during robbery; thieves steal gold valued at $1M

Held at gunpoint and faced with the decision to flee, freeze or fight during a robbery at his home business last week, Rajan Dhalla chose the latter — striking back at thieves before being injured by gunfire.

Dhalla, 33, was shot in the legs during the brazen crime. He is now recovering in hospital, where he continues to replay the violence in his head.

“It is extreme pain,” he said Friday. “It is very traumatic… (I) can’t sleep. The whole thing is on my mind.”

The Oct. 9 incident began just before 6:30 p.m., when four masked men — at least two of whom were carrying guns; the other two were armed with a hammer and baseball bat — burst into his home-based jewelry business on Bachman Bay in The Maples.

Footage from the incident shows the suspects heading for an area of the home where a large assortment of jewelry was stored in glass display cases.

Dhalla’s father was dragged away from the display and shot in the leg, as Dhalla picked up items to throw at the thieves. He was then shot and collapsed to the floor in pain, the video shows.

The men cleared valuables from the shelves and threatened to kill Dhalla if he continued to fight, he said.

Several other family members were also present, including multiple children, and footage shows one of the robbers ushering them into the home’s garage at gunpoint.

The Winnipeg Police Service confirmed officers were sent to the house and found two men with gunshot wounds. The victims, ages 56 and 33, were taken to hospital in unstable and stable condition, respectively.

Investigators are now searching for a black 2020 or 2021 Volkswagen Jetta suspected of being involved with the crime.

No arrests have been made.

The vehicle arrived from eastbound Jefferson Avenue and circled the block a few times before stopping in front of the home before the robbery. It was last seen heading west on Jefferson from Argate Bay after the robbery, WPS said in a news release.

The licence plate number of the vehicle is unknown.

Seperate footage from outside of the home shows the masked men running out to the waiting sedan with the stolen goods in their hands. Time stamps on the videoes show the incident began and ended within about three minutes.

On Friday, Dhalla was surrounded by family members inside his hospital room, his injured father sleeping in the bed next to him.

Dhalla’s father is recovering well, but Dhalla remains in extreme pain. He underwent surgery for a fractured femur, and one of the bullets struck him near his groin. Doctors told him that shot could have been fatal, had it hit him just a few centimetres away, he said.

It could take him months to physically recover, but he expects the psychological damage to be longer lasting.

“Everyone needs to know what is going on here. We are not safe in the home, basically,” he said.

“Everyone needs to know what is going on here. We are not safe in the home, basically.”

He said the robbers stole about $1 million worth of gold, calling the theft “a huge loss.”

Roughly four months before the incident, somebody visited the store to warn Dhalla he would be robbed. He did not report that to police at the time because he did not believe the warning was credible, he said.

He opened the business in 2022, after saving money by working as a transport-truck driver. He said he was planning to move the business into a storefront that is currently being renovated.

A review of City of Winnipeg permits shows Rajan Jewellers is authorized as a home-based business.

A city website says the permit allows for a jeweller with a maximum floor area of 400 square feet, or 25 per cent of the gross floor area of the home, whichever is less.

The permit does not allow “employees or customers on premises, and personal service provided on premises,” and is “limited to paperwork which may include the taking of telephone orders,” the website says.

Dhalla said most of the business is conducted online, but people periodically come into the store to look at the products they are purchasing.

Some customers were inside the store at the time of the robbery, the footage shows.

Police are seeking video related to the incident, including any from vehicles driving in the area around that time. They asked anyone with relevant video to call the unit at 204-986-6219 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-TIPS.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca