<p>Police in western Bengaluru has tracked down a man who allegedly robbed an elderly woman by posing as her prospective tenant earlier this month. </p>.<p>Kiran Kumar, 36, a car driver from ITI Layout, South Bengaluru, is accused of robbing 70-year-old H N Shanthamma on February 7. </p>.<p>Shanthamma was alone at her house located in Sir MV Layout, Manganahalli Cross, when Kumar knocked on the door as a prospective tenant around 10.30 am. She had put up a notice seeking a tenant for the first floor of her house. She lives there with her husband P S Sathyanarayana Rao. The couple's two children live separately. </p>.<p>Shanthamma ushered Kumar in to show the house. But as soon as he stepped in, he locked the door from the inside, pushed her down and put a gag in her mouth so she couldn't raise an alarm. He was so rough that he hurt her mouth. As Shanthamma tried to gather her senses and recover from the blow, Kumar snatched the gold jewellery she had on her person. </p>.<p>It was a sheer coincidence that Shanthamma was wearing a lot of jewellery at that time. She had just dressed up to leave for a housewarming party when Kumar arrived. In all, he escaped with a mangalya chain, a gold chain, six bangles, a pair of earrings and a <span class="italic"><em>maati</em></span>. The jewellery weighed 220 grams and was worth Rs 9 lakh. </p>.<p>Shanthamma filed a complaint at the jurisdictional Jnanabharathi police station. </p>.<p>Police got the suspect's footage from CCTV cameras but nobody seemed to know who he was. Police had to do a lot of legwork until a vehicle mechanic positively identified him as one of his customers and gave them his phone number. But the number was switched off. Police eventually tracked him by checking his phone records and residential address. </p>.<p>Police described Kumar as a repeat offender. He was previously arrested for robbing two women in Subramanyapura and Rajagopalanagar but had got bail. </p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>A vulnerable target </strong></p>.<p>Kumar, police went on, had carefully picked Shanthamma as his next target. He had recced the aged couple's house just eight days before robbery and found out that only they lived there. </p>.<p>After the robbery, he went to a gold finance firm to sell 30 grams of stolen jewellery. The staff checked the gold, and after verifying its authenticity, asked him for ID. But he got scared, abandoned the jewellery and ran away. He had kept the remaining jewellery with a friend. Police have recovered it, too. </p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>
<p>Police in western Bengaluru has tracked down a man who allegedly robbed an elderly woman by posing as her prospective tenant earlier this month. </p>.<p>Kiran Kumar, 36, a car driver from ITI Layout, South Bengaluru, is accused of robbing 70-year-old H N Shanthamma on February 7. </p>.<p>Shanthamma was alone at her house located in Sir MV Layout, Manganahalli Cross, when Kumar knocked on the door as a prospective tenant around 10.30 am. She had put up a notice seeking a tenant for the first floor of her house. She lives there with her husband P S Sathyanarayana Rao. The couple's two children live separately. </p>.<p>Shanthamma ushered Kumar in to show the house. But as soon as he stepped in, he locked the door from the inside, pushed her down and put a gag in her mouth so she couldn't raise an alarm. He was so rough that he hurt her mouth. As Shanthamma tried to gather her senses and recover from the blow, Kumar snatched the gold jewellery she had on her person. </p>.<p>It was a sheer coincidence that Shanthamma was wearing a lot of jewellery at that time. She had just dressed up to leave for a housewarming party when Kumar arrived. In all, he escaped with a mangalya chain, a gold chain, six bangles, a pair of earrings and a <span class="italic"><em>maati</em></span>. The jewellery weighed 220 grams and was worth Rs 9 lakh. </p>.<p>Shanthamma filed a complaint at the jurisdictional Jnanabharathi police station. </p>.<p>Police got the suspect's footage from CCTV cameras but nobody seemed to know who he was. Police had to do a lot of legwork until a vehicle mechanic positively identified him as one of his customers and gave them his phone number. But the number was switched off. Police eventually tracked him by checking his phone records and residential address. </p>.<p>Police described Kumar as a repeat offender. He was previously arrested for robbing two women in Subramanyapura and Rajagopalanagar but had got bail. </p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>A vulnerable target </strong></p>.<p>Kumar, police went on, had carefully picked Shanthamma as his next target. He had recced the aged couple's house just eight days before robbery and found out that only they lived there. </p>.<p>After the robbery, he went to a gold finance firm to sell 30 grams of stolen jewellery. The staff checked the gold, and after verifying its authenticity, asked him for ID. But he got scared, abandoned the jewellery and ran away. He had kept the remaining jewellery with a friend. Police have recovered it, too. </p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>
