Kingpin of gang that stole Rs 1L from actor caught

Police have arrested a member of the gang that stole Rs 1 lakh from Kannada actor Vinod Raj by bluffing him into believing that his car had a puncture. The crime had occurred in Nelamangala on the northern outskirts of Bengaluru on September 28.

The actor had withdrawn the money from a bank to pay workers at his orchard and had got into his car to go home. Just then, a boy came up and told him the car had a puncture. Another man rushed in moments later, saying the automobile had another a puncture. As the actor got preoccupied with the car's repair, other members of the gang stole the cash bag. They all fled shortly thereafter.

The Nelamangala police reviewed the CCTV footage of the place and zeroed in on Samson alias Ojikuppam Raju. Acting on a tip-off, they arrested him on Thursday when he was allegedly plotting a similar crime near a private bank, a senior police officer said. Raju's accomplices, however, escaped.

Raju, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, told the police he had planned to invest the money in real estate but police have since seized it. Talking about how the gang worked, Raju told the police that they usually targeted people coming out of banks. One of them would talk to the victim and keep him/her engaged while the others would escape with the booty. They shared the money later.