Seven arrested; gang war, dacoity averted

The Central Crime Branch police arrested seven men and claimed to have averted a gang war, a triple murder and an armed robbery.

Police recovered lethal weapons from Venkatesh (20), Purushotham (19), Manjunath (17), all from MG Art Colony; Sampath Rao (20) from Basaveshwarnagar; Charan (18) from Kurubarahalli, Ranjeeth (23) from Mysore Road, and Santosh (21) from Majestic area.

On a tip-off, police arrested them near Gurukulam Kidji School Park at Basaveshwarnagar. They had allegedly hatched a conspiracy to murder three members of a rival gang and commit dacoity. Three other suspects, Manikantha, Tourist Loky and Preetham, are absconding.

According to police, Naveen alias Kulla was hacked to death by Uday at Rajagopalnagar in 2010. He was sent to the  Central Prisons at Parappana Agrahara, where he is said to have befriended the seven suspects and allegedly conspired to murder Naveen’s brother and two others.

Venkatesh and Purushotham were allegedly involved in separate attempt-to-murder and armed robbery cases at Basaveshwarnagar and Mahalakshmipuram, respectively.

Sampathrao was sent to remand home as a juvenile delinquent twice, but he escaped on both occasions. He was allegedly involved in a conspiracy to commit an armed robbery and attempts to murder at Basaveshwarnagar and Nandini Layout. Charan and Manjunath were allegedly involved in a murder case each.

The police arrested 14 people with criminal backgrounds and recovered cash, cellphones, weapons and medicines.