Rowdy and Co attack salesman in case of mistaken identity

A rowdy and his friends almost killed a salesman after mistaking him for a rival. But once they realised their folly, they robbed gold and cash from the victim’s house in order to make it look like a burglary.

Chamarajpet police said they had tracked down three of the suspects, who have been identified as Anil Kumar, 28, a rowdy-sheeter from Giripura, Vinay, 24, of Thyagarajanagar, and Srinagar resident Aravind, 24. The trio and a few others had barged into the house of Sathish in Anandapura between 11.30 pm and 12.30 pm on August 21 and mercilessly attacked him. They also robbed 30 grams of gold and Rs 3,000 from a wardrobe in the house before fleeing.

The case would have been difficult to crack had Sathish himself not revealed the assailants’ names. His mother, who was away in KR Puram, returned home just in time. She saw a gang of eight armed with lethal weapons damaging vehicles parked near her house. But she didn’t know them. More surprise lay in store for her when she went to her house. The door was broken and her son was lying in a pool of blood. While being taken to a hospital, Sathish gathered his senses to reveal the assailants, whom he had seen before.

Based on a complaint by Sathish’s mother, police tracked down Kumar, Vinay and Aravind. It then emerged that it was a mistaken identity attack. The gang actually wanted to attack Sathish’s neighbour, one Anandapura Suresh.

In 2015, Suresh and his friends had allegedly killed Kumar’s younger brother, Sanjay. Kumar, named in 16 cases, including murder and robbery, had recently come out on bail. He vowed revenge and roped in his friends.

He learnt that Suresh and his associates live in Anandapura. Accordingly, the gang went to the locality but barged into the wrong house.