Bengaluru: Minors who escaped from remand home held for chain snatching, vehicle theft

Bengaluru: The Peenya police have detained four minors, who recently escaped from a remand home, for allegedly snatching a gold chain and stealing vehicles.

Police said all four were 17 years old.

Investigators stated that around 6.10 am on July 14, two of the minor suspects on a two-wheeler waylaid the complainant on his way to work, snatched a gold chain weighing 30 grams and fled.

On the morning of July 24, following several leads and scouring CCTV footage, police traced and detained the four near Gangondanahalli Main Road. They also found an auto-rickshaw and two two-wheelers in the minors' possession, which were subsequently impounded.

Further questioning led to the minors confessing to the crime. Police recovered the gold chain and found that they possessed stolen vehicles. They estimated the total recovery at Rs 4 lakh.

On July 25, the four were produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, which sent them back to the remand home in Madiwala.

Investigators said the four juveniles had studied up to Class 6 or 8, and some had single parents doing menial jobs.

"They were also involved in chain snatching and vehicle theft cases," an officer said. "They are also wanted in a vehicle theft case in the Sanjayanagar police station. One of the suspects had worked in a garage where he learned about vehicles."

The great escape

An investigator told DH that the four were previously detained by the Byadarahalli police in a case of mobile snatching and were sent to the remand home in Devanahalli on June 30.

"On July 9, the four managed to break the lock of the back door of the remand home and escape," the officer said.

Action against parents

Bengaluru City Police Commissioner B Dayananda said action would be initiated against the parents under Section 75 (punishment for cruelty to child) of the Juvenile Justice Act.

"They have been served notices," Dayananda said on Tuesday during the weekly press briefing. "Action against parents is due to their failure to properly take care of their children and ensure their growth and well-being."