CAIRO: The government has taken up new security measures for jewelry shops following the armed raid on a jewelry shop in the district of Zeitoun in Cairo last Wednesday.
Two masked men shot four people dead when they raided a jewelry shop at noon. It is still not clear whether the attack was a failed robbery, an act of revenge or a new wave of sectarian violence; the four victims were Copts.
The following day, the majority of jewelry stores around Cairo, especially in Heliopolis, were assigned two police officers to guard the store 24 hours a day, in addition to police rounds checking on the stores several times throughout the day.
“The new security measures will discourage anyone attempting to rob a jewelry store now; having police security is much safer than any private security one can hire, Aly El Sirgany, owner of a jewelry store in Heliopolis told Daily News Egypt.
Throughout history, the majority of robberies and raids have been made on Coptic-owned stores. Militant Islamists attacked and robbed Christian jewelry stores in Egypt in the 1990s for political purposes.
“As the police have said, Wednesday’s accident wasn’t a terrorist act nor did it have any sectarian motives, it was probably a result of a rivalry, said Rauof Fouad, owner of a jewelry store in Downtown Cairo.
“We have nothing to be afraid of. My store is located in a very secure area plus police officers have repeatedly come to my store throughout the day to check if everything was okay, he added.
Fouad did not change anything regarding his store activity since Wednesday’s incident; he only followed the police’s instructions to have more than three people at the store at all times of operation.
El Sirgany added that these security measures should be in place at all times not just for to confront the current emergency. He explained that the opening and closing times are the most critical, and that robberies usually happen at these times as the staff is busy laying out the jewelry.
“When you are at the store, you can never assume that the person coming in is going to rob you so you are usually unprepared, while he is armed and acts quickly, said El Sirgany.
Stores still open and close at their regular hours, which follow the instructions that have been set by the government decades ago. “Ever since the foundation of our store, we have been instructed to be the last store in the area to open in the morning and the first store to close at night, said El Sirgany, who opens his store at 10:30 am and closes at 10:30 pm.
