Burglar, who bluffed victims with pigeon, held

Police say they have solved 12 house and shop burglaries reported in different parts of the City by arresting four men, including one from Rajasthan.

The Cubbon Park police arrested Manjunath alias Pariwala (Pigeon) Manja, 30, and recovered 400 grams of gold valuables worth Rs 12 lakh from him. The man is suspected of striking at apartments and buildings having more than 10 flats. He would approach the security guard or the apartment caretaker, saying his pigeon was trapped on the terrace and needs to be rescued.

If he got lucky and was allowed to go to the terrace, he would look for locked houses and break into them and make off with valuables and cash. He followed the same trick everywhere. The police said they arrested him after getting some incriminating evidence. Seven burglaries reported in Cubbon Park, Halasuru Gate and Chickpet police station limits were solved with the arrest of Manjunath, police said.

In another arrest, the Halasuru Gate police apprehended three men—Harshan, Surendra and Jal Singh alias Prem Singh—and recovered 15 kg of silver ornaments worth Rs 7.5 lakh and 40-gram gold ornaments from them. The men are suspected to have broken into a store named RJM Silver workshop on JM Road in Halasuru Gate police station limits and made off with 15 kg of silver ornaments, the police said.