JOIN USThe West Division Police have arrested a five-man gang used to waylay lonely women by posing themselves as policemen.
Appanna, 45, the alleged ring-leader and a resident of Bidar, Imtiyaz Yosuf, 34, Mohammed Syed Aleef, 25, both residents of Lingarajapuram, Mohammed Usman, 34 of Gulbarga and Mohammed, 22, of Maharashtra are the arrested. The police have recovered 45 gram of gold, a four-wheeler and a bike and Rs 15.50 lakh in cash from the arrested.
Police said that the arrested were residing together in Hubli and camped at some places in Andhra Pradesh too.
“They told us that they belong to a migratory tribe and are of Iranian-Muslim origin. They were led by Bagar Hussain Irani, 45. Irani and his son started recruiting members of their tribe for the gang,” police said.
The men speak Kannada, English, Hindi, Persian and English. The gang also employed an advocate who often helped them get bail whenever they were arrested.
“There are such gangs operating in Maharashtra, Chennai, Goa, Kolkata and Hyderabad,” police claimed.
Modus operandi
The suspects often dressed as policemen and targeted solitary women in remote areas.
“They would introduce themselves as policemen and claim that a woman had been killed and robbed of her gold jewellery in a nearby street,” They would advise the victim to remove her jewellery, place them in paper packets — which they provided — in her handbag. They would then divert the victim’s attention and steal the valuables,” an investigating officer said. The gang frequently targeted women near temples and parks by travelling around in a jeep, police added.
The gang has allegedly been involved in 30 similar offences in Shimoga, Mysore, Kundapura, Manipal, Mangalore, Belgaum and Udupi. Police had constituted a special team after seven similar cases were reported in the Kengeri Gate sub-division.
3 held for theft at house
Magadi Road police recently arrested three people on charges of theft and recovered gold ornaments worth Rs 12 lakh.
The suspects have been identified as: Ravi Kiran, 20, a resident of Ullal Satellite Town, Akhilesh, 21, of Chamarajpet and Praveen Kumar, 21, of Magadi Road. According to police, the three men were responsible for a robbery committed at the home of a financier, Srinivas, 46, a resident of Manjunath Nagar in Cholurupalya.
Srinivas’ son, Pawan, was a friend of one of the suspects, Ravi Kiran. Kiran had noticed that a duplicate key of the was being kept in the utility box of a two-wheeler parked parked outside the house.
Kiran and his three associates plotted theft and gained entry into the house using the duplicate key when the family members were away.
Police achieved a breakthrough in the case after questioning Kumar since he had been a frequent visitor to the home. “He confessed to have stolen valuables from the house,” police said. Both Kiran and Akhilesh were allegedly involved in the murder of Kittu Naveen in Srirampura police limits in a few months ago.
They were lodged at Central Prisons in Parappana Agrahara. After being released on bail, they returned to crime, police said.
Man held
Nandini Layout police have arrested a man on the charge of murdering his wife at Parimala Nagar. Mohan, a native of Andhra Pradesh had married Sunitha, 23, of KR Nagar four years ago. On May 7, Sunitha was found dead at her residence and the police had registered a case of unnatural death.
The autopsy report stated that Sunitha was strangulated to death following which the police took Mohan into custody. According to the police, Mohan confessed that he suspected Sunitha’s fidelity and in a fit of rage, strangulated her to death.
Cattle rescued
Devanahalli police rescued 20 cattle heads that were being transported in a lorry near Doddaballapur junction on Saturday and arrested four persons in this connection. These cattle were allegedly being transported to a slaughter house in Shivajinagar, it is said.