The City police achieved a major breakthrough by nabbing an inter-state gang of dacoits, who, in a daylight heist, had made away with 30 kilograms of gold jewellery worth Rs 2.9 crore from Chemmanur Jewellers, Kammanahalli Main Road, on August 11.
The police also recovered 14.76 kgs of stolen jewellery, two pistols and 16 bullets, Commissioner of Police N Achutha Rao told reporters in Bangalore on Tuesday.
The accused are Umesh Shetty (34), a resident of Kelamane Kenjur in Udupi, Nagaraj alias Naga (35) of Doddayeraganala in Arasikere taluk of Hassan district, Nandish (30) of Nelavagilu of Koppa taluk in Chikmagalur , Gopal Narayan Alva (37) of Mudambyl in Manjeshwar in Kasargodu, Kerala, Hemalatha (29) of Koppa in Chikmagalur, Manish Raju Shetty (30) and Radha Krishna Shetty (40) of from Nadapal in Karkala of Chikmagalur.
However, Nikhil Shetty, Sandeep Singh, Ravi Shetty, Gopal Ramakanth Shetty, Vasanth Saliyan and CBI Krishna are still at large, he added. Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Gopal B Hosur said that Nikhil Shetty and Vasanth Saliyan were the masterminds.
CBI Krishna alias Income Tax Krishna, used to stand guard outside the banks and jewellery shops, misleading public that a CBI team was conducting raids inside, he added.
DCP (East) B K Singh said that the accused used to get weapons from Mumbai, suggesting possibility of their links with the underworld.
Right from 2003, the gang had looted jewellery shops and banks in Hyderabad, Belgaum, Pimpri and Palghat and made away with 102 kgs of gold jewellery and Rs 25.5 lakh in hard cash.
After striking Chemmanur Jewellers, they went to Tamil Nadu, sold of some their belongings and abandoned cellphones in remote areas. The accused used to dispose off the booty at several places. Some of them would invest in the hotel industry and would open hotels, bar and restaurants, while some others spent their money to lead luxurious lives. However, they would resort to crime once they began suffering losses in the business, Hosur said.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Mr MP Prakash has announced a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh to the teams involved in nabbing the inter-state gang.
