Man outsmarts armed muggers

A 27-year-old quality analyst managed to outwit a gang of four who offered him a drop after work and attempted to rob him.

Anshuman Singh, a resident of Bommasandra and an employee of an IT/BT firm in Silk Board, was abducted and assaulted by four armed men on July 30 night, but his presence of mind ensured that he was left poorer only by Rs 1,500 and a pair of sunglasses worth Rs 2,200.

Anshuman managed to hide his ATM card and even persuaded the robbers to return his gold ring. Convinced that their victim was of no use, the muggers dumped Anshuman in Attibele after a one-and-a-half-hour drive.

Anshuman had taken a bus to Hebbagodi on Hosur Road, where he was waiting for an auto-rickshaw to get home. Around 10 pm, a cab stopped by and offered to drop him. There were three others in the cab, apart from the driver.

An unsuspecting Anshuman hopped in. As soon as the cab started to move, the men ganged up and started to assault him with a baseball bat, demanding cash and valuables.

“While I was taking out the cash I had (Rs 1,500) in the wallet, I managed to hide the ATM card of my salary account, where I had received my pay just three hours ago,” Anshuman told DH. Fortunately, the muggers did not notice it, but seized another credit card and an ATM card which had no balance at all, he said.

The gang then asked for the pin number of the ATM card, which Anshuman gave them readily. They drove towards a Syndicate bank ATM in Yadavanahalli, but found that the PIN wasn’t working. They started assaulting Anshuman, but he maintained that it was the correct PIN. Later, they found another ATM at Neraluru on Hosur Road, but found out that his account had zero balance.

The men then noticed Anshuman’s rings (a gold and two silver rings). He said he would part with them, but requested them not to hurt him anymore. He also told his assailants that the gold ring had helped him cast away evil spells.

“They believed me and gave back my rings. Then they asked for my mobile phone. It was an expensive one worth Rs 65,000. But I told them that it had updated security features and anyone could trace them if the phone was used. Besides, the phone requires my thumb print to open,” Anshuman said.

Finally, the thieves decided to make do with the cash and sunglasses, and dumped him in Atttible after one and a half hours. Anshuman lodged a complaint with Hebbagodi police. The police have taken up a case of abduction and robbery, and are analysing CCTV footage to identify the car and the assailants.

The ATM kiosks where the thieves tried their luck didn’t have a security guard or CCTV, a senior police officer said.

Another incident

In a similar incident, a 30-year-old businessman was abducted and robbed by three men near Kudlu gate on Hosur road on Monday.

Vinod kumar was walking home when a cab driver offered to drop him. As soon as he got into the car, the men threatened Vinod with a knife. They blindfolded him and removed his gold valuables and wallet containing Rs 7,000. The accused dumped Vinod at an isolated place. The total worth of gold valuables lost was Rs 1.7 lakh.

“These gangs target people at the start of the month as they know the victims would have got their salaries,” said a cop.