To repay debt, chit fund owner recces for robbery gang

A chit fund manager was so desperate for money that she ganged up with 10 robbers to strike at the house of her own sister, a neighbour and an elderly woman living alone, police said.

The 11-member gang robbed all the three homes in the last month alone. Police believe it could be involved in several other robberies.

Girijamma, 47, a divorcee living with her son in Old Bank Colony, Konanakunte, was making ends meet by running a chit fund. Problems arose when she lost Rs 10 lakh in her business and had to pay the money out of her own pocket.

Desperate for money, she came in contact with Stephan Raju, 25, a man with a shady past. He was jailed for robberies and had built his own gang while in prison. He got bail recently.

Girijamma explained her problem to him and sought help. She suggested that Raju rob homes and promised to do a recce of the targets. He came on board.

Girijamma started visiting the houses of her relatives, friends and neighbours. Whenever she found out that there were money and jewellery in a house, she quickly tipped Raju off. The gang would raid the house, beat the inhabitants and rob the valuables. The booty would be split among all the partners in crime, said Dharmendra T M, Inspector, Konanakunte police station.

On August 22, the gang struck at the house of Prabhavathi, who’s none other than Girijamma’s neighbour. Girijamma had tracked her movements and tipped off the gang after learning that only two people were inside the house. The gang barged into the house, tied up Prabhavathi and another person and took away 289 grams of gold jewellery. They fled in auto-rickshaws.

When the Konanakunte police started investigating the case, the CCTV footage and the call detail record helped them zero in on Girijamma. She confessed during the interrogation.

Girijamma also told the police that she had helped the gang rob her own sister’s house and an elderly woman living alone in Kadugodi.

Rohini Katoch Sepat, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), said that while three robberies had been solved with the gang’s arrest, more crimes could come to the fore given the suspects’ criminal background.

Police identified the other suspects as Raju, 51, Raghuvaran, 30, Suresh, 36, Lingaraju, 34, Manikantan, 25, Sathish, 20, Rajesh, 21, Abdul Samad, 29, and Satish Kumar, 24. They have seized an auto-rickshaw, gold and silver jewellery besides other valuables.