In a classic case of the fence eating the crop, the Central Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths have arrested two police personnel, including a Sub-Inspector, on charges of stealing property recovered from a gang of robbers, which included 1 kg of gold articles and `1 lakh cash.
Sub-Inspector R Vijay (26) constable Yogesh attached to Siddapur police station, have been taken into the custody in this connection.
The investigators said, another constable, Syed Mohammad Rasool Saab (25), also from Siddapura police station will be arrested soon.
The CCB police have also arrested a gang of thieves— Kavitha, her husband Harinath Reddy and his mother Sridevi, who used to rob valuables from houses. The women in the group worked as maids and robbed houses after drugging the house owners.
The arrested cops, who had got clues about this group, raided the accused Kavitha’s house near Marathahalli claiming to be cops from Andhra Pradesh. They had seized as much as 1 kg of gold, `1 lakh in cash, 10 SIM cards and 10 mobile phones.
The cops conducted the raid without informing the seniors and had kept the seized property to themselves. Later, when Hulimavu police arrested an accused on charges of theft at the house of a local resident, Srinivas Rao, he informed the police about selling the stolen property to Kavitha.
When Hulimavu police raided Kavitha’s house, they were told that the stolen property was taken away by the Devagiri police of Andhra Pradesh. However, the mobile phones seized by the cops were with the local cops. The matter was then brought before the Commissioner of police, Raghavendra Auradkar, who ordered an investigation.
Labhu Ram, DCP-CCB, explained that a team led by ACP Subramanya was constituted to look into the incident. Cases have been filed against the three policemen under Section 411 of IPC, he stated.
Section 411 of IPC which deals with dishonestly receiving stolen property, states: whoever dishonestly receives or retains any stolen property, knowing or having reason to believe the same to be stolen property, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.