Bengaluru jewellery heist bid: Assailant dies of gunshot wound; 3 others in police net

Bengaluru: The Bengaluru police on Tuesday announced the arrest of three men allegedly behind the sensational heist attempt at a jewellery store in the northeast of the city. 

A fourth suspect suffered a gunshot during the heist bid and died in a hospital in Gwalior. A fifth suspect is at large. 

The incident occurred last week at Laxmi Bankers and Jewellers in Devinagar where masked assailants opened fire, injuring Hapuram, the jeweller, and Andaram, his nephew and aide. 

During an early morning operation at the Gwalior railway station on March 16, special teams of the city police arrested Khana Sharma, 23, Ashu Sharma, 27, Suraj, 30, and Pradeep Sharma, 37. 

Suraj died at a local hospital the next day as he had suffered gunshot injuries when the heist went awry. The bullet pierced his jaw vertically without an exit. 

Vikas Pandit, 32, the fifth suspect, remains at large. All five were from the Morena district in Madhya Pradesh. 

"During the melee, a bullet hit one of the suspects in the neck," BM Laxmi Prasad, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northeast), said. "As he fled without any medical assistance by hiding the wound using a scarf, he succumbed at a government hospital in Gwalior on Sunday (March 17) after being admitted there by our personnel. His role in the crime and death are being probed.” 

'Well-planned heist'

On March 14, around 11.15 am, three masked assailants barged into the jewellery shop while a fourth waited outside. Despite demands to pack the gold, Hapuram and Andaram resisted. 

Andaram managed to strike down an assailant loading the gun and held him down, while Hapuram sounded the burglary alarm. This led to another assailant opening fire at the duo. 

As neighbouring shopkeepers were alerted, the assailants fled on two motorcycles — one stolen the day before from HSR Layout and another few hours ahead of the heist from Vidyaranyapura — and abandoned a pistol. 

One of the two bullets that pierced Hapuram’s abdomen has been removed, but he is still undergoing treatment at MS Ramaiah Hospital. The bullet that hit Andaram's right thigh was also removed, according to police. 

Swift operation 

As the assailants fled, an eyewitness followed them and told the police they were headed towards Goraguntepalya. Meanwhile, three special teams were formed after the Kodigehalli police registered a case. 

Police ran fingerprints from the scene into the national fingerprint database and discovered that one of them was named in at least 12 criminal cases in Morena. The man turned out to be Khana Sharma, the alleged kingpin. 

"Police teams zeroed in on the Karnataka Express moving to Bhopal and Gwalior from Bengaluru," DCP Prasad said. "With help from the Gwalior and Morena police, our team detained the four as soon as they deboarded.” 

Investigators said Khana, Ashu and Suraj were part of the heist, while Pradeep, a mason who lived in Bidarahalli in KR Puram for several years, provided them with a place to stay when they arrived on March 10. 

The three suspects were sent to police custody for 13 days on Monday after they were brought to the city on a transit warrant. 

Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda praised the investigators and lauded the efforts by personnel from both states. He also announced a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh each for officials from the Bengaluru police, who were part of the probe, and the Gwalior police. 

Recoveries from the suspects 

Country-made pistols: 4
Live rounds: 12
Mobile phones: 2
Motorcycles: 2

The prime suspect, Khana Sharma. 

Ashu Sharma. 

Pradeep Sharma. 

The absconding suspect, Vikas Pandit.