Police have arrested a 38-year-old man who allegedly tried to rob a government doctor’s home-alone wife by introducing himself as a health department official doing a Covid-19 survey.
Dressed impeccably and notebook in hand, the suspect went door to door in Health Layout, West Bengaluru, introducing himself as a health department official who was surveying people having Covid-19 symptoms.
Upon reaching the house of the government hospital, he found that only his wife was present. He introduced himself and said a Covid-19 positive case had been reported from the nearby Papareddy Palya and asked her a few questions about her health as part of the “survey”. The unsuspecting woman cooperated with him. He thanked her and left.
Gritty woman
He, however, returned after a few minutes and asked for water. As she went in to get him water, he barged in and asked her to part with valuables. When she resisted, he tried to snatch her gold chain. But the woman showed grit and raised an alarm, forcing him to flee from the spot.
By then, neighbours had heard the woman’s screams. Some of them saw the robber running and chased him down.
They called the police. A Hoysala patrol car rushed to the spot and took the man into custody.
A police investigation found that the suspect was Murthy, a resident of Basaveshwara Nagar.
The jurisdictional Annapoorneshwari Nagar police have booked him for attempted robbery and are questioning him about his past crimes.
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