Daylight dacoity nets gang Rs 32 lakh in HSR Layout

The robbery lasted less than 15 minutes around noon on 5th Main Road, HSR Layout.
According to police, Venkatesh, Rajashekhar, Lakshman Reddy and Shankar, all employees of Shiva Traders on Mangammanapalya Main Road, left their office in a red Maruti Echo. They were carrying Rs 32 lakh in a bag for depositing it in two banks - Karnataka Bank in BTM Layout and Bank of India at Silk Board Junction.

Venkatesh, the cashier, sat next to the driver Rajashekhar while Reddy and Shankar were seated at the back.

Soon, a Getz car began following them. Rajashekhar slowed down the Echo as it approached road humps on fifth main road, a desolate area. The suspects overtook the car and managed to stop it.

They got down from the car and threw chilli powder into the eyes of Rajashekhar and Venkatesh. Before they could realise what was happening, the suspects broke the window glass and brandishing lethal weapons intimidated those inside, took the bag, got back into their car and disappeared. The suspects were aged between 25 and 30.

Police said the modus operandi suggested a well hatched conspiracy. The suspects knew about the transportation of huge cash in a car and prepared to execute the plan. They might have followed them from Mangammanapalya and struck at a desolate area, and fled towards Hosur Road.

The police immediately placed roadblocks and checked all vehicles entering and exiting Bangalore.

City Police Commissioner B G Jyothiprakash Mirji and DCP (South East) Dr P S Harsha visited the spot.

Two pistols seized

Kadugondanahalli police arrested two men, including the brother of an criminal, and recovered two country-made pistols, five bullets and a car.

The suspects are Ismail Sharif (37), a rowdy-sheeter from K G Halli, and Mardan Sulaiman Khan (26) from Thanisandra.

Mardan is the younger brother of Yusuf Bachkana, an aide of the underworld don Chhota Rajan, and currently serving a jail term in Gulbarga for his role in the murder of builder Subbaraju.

Police said Sharif had contacted Bachkana and struck a deal for two pistols and five bullets for Rs 1.3 lakh.

Bachkana sent the weapons through his associates Basava, and another man whose identity is yet to be ascertained.