Police intercept serial burglars in Jayanagar; one shot at

A 26-year-old man believed to be part of a three-member gang on a burglary spree was shot in the leg by police on Wednesday.

Police said that Ismail was part of the gang which they spotted while on transit after committing two burglaries and were on their way to commit more. Ismail alias Mohammed Faizal is a resident of Devarabeesanahalli.

Jayanagar police inspector Sudharshan H V was on morning patrol along with his crime staff. Around 6 am, he found an auto-rickshaw heading towards them in Jayanagar 6th Block suddenly taking a turn and escaping.

Suspecting something wrong, the police party chased the auto for some distance and detained two men identified as Bikas and Ajay Sharma, both from Assam. The third member of the gang fled the scene. Police learnt that he was Ismail.

Even as they traced Ismail, they received information that he was near a house in Jayanagar 8th Block. Before police could arrive, Ismail assaulted a security guard at the house and jumped off into a multi-story residential building.

Police arrived at Ismail’s hiding spot at 9.30 am, where head constable Pradeep tried to catch him. Ismail struck Pradeep’s hand with a machete. Sudharshan fired his service pistol in the air and asked Ismail to surrender himself, but the latter tried to escape. The inspector shot him in the left leg.

When Ismail collapsed, police rushed him to a hospital. Ismail and his arrested associates were on a burgling spree, breaking into locked houses and getting away with valuables.

The gang has 15 cases against their name. “We are yet to interrogate Bikas and Sharma about how they befriended Ismail,” an investigating officer said. The valuables they allegedly stole in two of the burglaries committed on Wednesday have been seized with the auto-rickshaw. Ismail tried to break open the cash collection box at the Annapoorneshwari temple and was on his way after stealing things at a shop to burgle a house.