Police nab four jewellery thieves

The North East Division police cracked the case of the foiled robbery bid at a jewellery shop in Kodigehalli, in which two at the shop sustained gunshot injuries, and arrested a gang of four interState robbers involved in over 20 criminal cases. With the help of vital clues, the police tracked down the accused to Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh and pinned them down.

On March 14, the accused, armed with countymade weapons barged into Lakshmi Bankers and Jewellers situated in Lottegolahalli, Devinagara at around 11.15 a.m. and threatened the owner and the employee at gunpoint to handover the valuables. They opened four rounds of fire at Hapuram, the owner, and Antharam, an employee, when they resisted the robbery bid. Two rounds hit Hapuram in the torso while one hit Antharam in the leg. The assailants sped away as people rushed towards the shop for help. A special team gathered clues from the CCTV footage and various technical evidence, including the countrymade pistol the accused dropped at the scene while fleeing and tracked them down to Gwalior. The accused have been identified as Suraj, Kanha Pandit, Ashu Pandit and Mose, alias Banti. Senior officials denied speculations that one of the accused sustained injuries during the arrest. The four are being brought to the city for further probe.

The gang used to target small jewellry shops that did not have security personnel and large crowds to avoid undue attention and rob them. They are said to be involved in over 20 robberies in Maharashtra and other parts of the country.

Using similar modus operandi, the four had committed a robbery in Maharastra last week before moving to Bengaluru, the police said. They did a recee of the shop for few days after zeroing in and trying to rob it on March 14. But the owner and his staff put up a tough fight which forced them to abandon the plan and flee, after shooting at the two and injuring them. The injured are recovering in the hospital, the police said.