Scare-and-rob gang strikes again in Bengaluru

A gang that robs lone men by accusing them of harassing women has struck again after five months. Its latest victim was a senior executive at a private firm riding home from work.

Members of the gang first confront unsuspecting men for sexting or making phone calls to the girlfriend of one of them. Once the victim is caught off guard and denies the charge, the gang robs him at knifepoint and escapes.

Bhushan Devidas Revannakar, 25, was riding home to Malleshpalya when the gang waylaid him on Residency Road in central Bengaluru around 2.30 am on March 4. It happened all of a sudden. A Maruti Swift slowed down next to his bike on the road opposite the HMG Ambassador Building. “I also slowed down, thinking they were looking for some address. But the car immediately blocked my way. There were four people inside. Two of them quickly got off and brandished machetes at me,” Revannakar said.

The duo then asked why he was harassing a woman by calling her and sending her messages. When Revannakar denied harassing anyone, they said a girlfriend of one of them had given his number and location. They then snatched his phone on the pretext of checking the call log. Even before Revannakar could make sense of the situation, the duo demanded that he part with other valuables. He had Rs 500 in cash and they took it away.

But they didn’t stop at that. They also took away his bike and the helmet. One of them rode the bike while the man on the pillion wore the helmet. The other two men drove off in the car towards Richmond Circle. Revannakar later took the help of passersby to call the police control room. Patrolmen reached the spot within 10 minutes.

Chetan Singh Rathore, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central), who later visited the spot, said the muggers’ movement had been caught on CCTV cameras. “We suspect it was the same gang that had robbed lone people earlier. We have taken up a case of robbery,” an officer said.

Revannakar works on the help desk of his company’s US operations and returns home late on night. He had borrowed the bike from a friend.