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Toronto police are asking for the public’s assistance identifying two men who robbed a jewellery store last month while wearing burkas.

Edmond Bakos, the owner of the York Mills-Leslie Street-area Mona-Clara Jewellers, said he didn’t think twice about the people who walked into his store on OCt. 14 until one them produced a handgun and demanded jewellery in a distinctly masculine voice.

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“Three seconds after they walked in, they pulled out a gun and said, ‘It’s a holdup,’” Bakos said.

While one suspect emptied a display of jewellery into his handbag, the second went with a female staff member to lock the entrance.

The pair got away with about $500,000 in jewellery during the five-minute holdup, Holdup squad Staff-Insp. Mike Earl told reporters Wednesday. The robbery took place at about 11 a.m., at a “busy” mall plaza, he said.

Bakos described the incident as traumatic.

Police are asking for the public’s assistance in finding the robbers. The first suspect is described as a black male, approximately 5”11 wearing black clothes. The second suspect was also male, approximately 6”3 with no description of ethnicity.