Cops nab gang that robbed people

Do you take late-night rides in private vehicles because there are no BMTC services and auto/cab fares are too high? Well, think twice.

Police have apprehended a gang-of-four that allegedly abducted and robbed stranded passengers on the pretext of dropping them home.

Sandeep, 27, and Manu Kumar, 27, both from Byatarayanapura, Srinagar resident Anu Kumar, 27, and a juvenile suspect would drive around the outer ring road in a Tempo Traveller, looking for passengers stranded late at night, police said.

The driver would offer to drop the passenger off at a location near his/her destination. Other members of the gang would act as fellow passengers. Once the passenger got into the vehicle, the driver would pull into a desolate place. The gang would then rob him/her.

The gang had a free run until it hadn’t robbed Gangadhariah, a resident of Nagarabhavi.

On November 4, Gangadharaiah, 59, returned from a wedding in Tumakuru and was waiting for transport at Goraguntepalya in northern Bengaluru. Around 12.20 am, a Tempo Traveller pulled in and the driver offered him a lift.

Fellow robbers

With no BMTC buses at that hour, he chose to take the vehicle. There were four passengers in the van who turned out to be robbers.

They then began to assault him and robbed him of his wallet, mobile phone and a gold ring. The suspects found only Rs 120 in cash but found two debit cards after which they stopped at an ATM. They forced him to reveal the ATM PIN but there was only Rs 300 in the two accounts.

The gang dumped him at an isolated spot in Krishnappa Layout, RR Nagar, around 2.10 am with a warning that any police complaint would attract dire consequences.

Gangadharaiah, however, lodged a complaint with the Rajarajeswari Nagar
police which succeeded in tracking down the gang. The Tempo Traveller has been seized.