The seized gold and cash at the police commissioner's office in Bengaluru on Tuesday. DH Photo/BK Janardhan
A 35-year-old man was arrested for robbing his relatives after he was unable to pay off his mounting debts.
The Tilaknagar police in the city’s southeastern limits said that 35-year-old Mohammed Rafeek alias Rafeek Bin Sheikh Mehboob, who has been charged with stealing gold ornaments and cash from his relatives, had managed to make a duplicate key of the complainant’s house in SRK Gardens. Rafeek visited the relatives house occasionally and managed to get the duplicate key.
“The accused is a scrap dealer and belongs to a joint family. They are affluent. They kept the jewels and cash for a forthcoming wedding,” the police official said.
The complainant and his family discovered the crime on September 25 after they returned from a wedding in Ramanagara. They found that 2.5 kg of gold ornaments and Rs 8 to Rs 10 lakh in cash were missing. The complainant also found that the locks remained unbroken.
“A meticulous review of footage from over 300 CCTV cameras played a pivotal role in tracing the perpetrator,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) CK Baba told DH. “The absence of any sign of forced entry or tampered locks, including those on cupboards, strongly indicated the involvement of an insider,” he added.
City Police Commissioner B Dayananda said that Rafeek had obtained loans through apps and was unable to pay them off. This was one of the motives behind the robbery.
“The other motive being the victims were his close relatives and it appears that there was a ‘jealousy’ factor involved,” Dayananda said during a press briefing on Tuesday. “The suspect is from Bengaluru and had no prior cases.”
Rafeek was arrested on September 30 and was booked under IPC sections 380 (theft in dwelling house), 454 (lurking house-trespass or housebreaking in order to commit offence), and 457 (lurking house-trespass or housebreaking by night in order to commit offence). He has been remanded to judicial custody.
Police recovered Rs 1.1 crore worth of gold ornaments, weighing 1.8 kg of the stolen 2.5 kg; Rs 74,000 in cash; a mobile phone; and a two-wheeler from the suspect. "He used the remaining sum to pay off the loans, the commissioner said.
Police advisory
1) Invest in a good home security system (with alarms and cameras)
2) Install lights with timers to create illusion of
occupied homes
3) Don’t leave spare keys hidden outside homes
4) Refrain from posting travel plans on social media
5) Inform beat police of your travel plans, especially if you are going on a long holiday