BENGALURU: After the notorious Dandupalya gang, which sent shock waves in the city with their gruesome killings, there seems another notorious gang on the loose. OG Kuppam Gang is from Nagari in Andhra Pradesh. The notorious gang, which thrives on a huge network of relatives, are known for their attention diversion skills to steal.
Previously, the police had arrested some of the gang members. The gang, which recently re-entered Bengaluru, has been getting involved in not just attention diversion thefts, but also robberies and burglaries.
According to a senior police officer, a few people of this village in Chittoor shifted their base from Andhra Pradesh to Karnataka in 2014. They entered the city some time in 2015 claiming to be domestic helps or construction labourers. The members, including women and teenaged children, then began to do a recce of places where the rich lived. They decided to use the most infamous trick of diverting a person's attention by throwing `10 note on the road and asking if it was theirs. Once the victim bends to pick up the note, they would snatch the victim's wallet. The first arrest was made in October 2015 in the city.
“The gang members then came out of bail and slowly began to expand their network. They thrive on a huge network of relatives. The gang, which entered with just three of four members from the community, now has at least 40 to 50 of them from the same family. They are all related to each other and are natives of OG Kuppam,” explained an officer.
Interestingly, police claim that the gang has also set up a network of lawyers from their own community to ensure that they are released immediately after their arrest.
“The moment they are arrested, a lawyer comes to court to apply for bail. They are out in no time and get back to business,” said a police officer. The gangs operate in Mysuru, Kalaburagi, Gadag, Hubballi, Hyderabad and Chennai among other cities.
TACTICS USED
Members of these gangs travel to Hyderabad to get an itching powder which they call ‘nasima’ in their language,” said an officer. “Earlier, one of the members would throw the powder at a person carrying cash or jewels. Once the powder starts working, another member would approach the victim and offer water for washing.
As the victim would no longer pay attention to their bag, another gang member would steal it and walk away,” said an investigating officer. Another tactic is to chew biscuits and spit them on a person. When the victim stops to wash it off, another gang member walks away with the bag. Their new scheme to get a rented house in the city, is to claim that they are Metro workers. They even wear jackets similar to those worn by BMRCL employees.
POLICE LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED
Recently, in February, the South East Division police arrested a few members of the gang. They had to pose as cloth sellers, and wait for weeks before nabbing them. Each time the police would come in plain clothes, these gang members would identify them and manage to escape. The police claim that they had even trained children.
“They are extremely sharp and even use their children for crime. One has to be very careful around ATM kiosks, banks and other places where money is involved. Do not fall prey to their tactics. If your car has a flat tyre make sure you call someone to accompany you before you check the tyre,” a police officer added.
Previous arrests
February 2018: The South East division police arrested two members of the the gang. Police found weapons and other implements used such as catapults, several `10 notes and other articles from the arrested suspects Seena and Babu. Almost `18.5 lakh of the `35 lakh a businessman had lost to this gang in 2017, was recovered.
October 2016: Three from OG Kuppam gang were arrested and police seized four bikes, more than 30 dresses which they wore after robbery and small knives used to threaten people before they robbed them.