BENGALURU: A gang of 10 Kerala-based dacoits, who were targeting jewellers on highways, have been arrested by the Bengaluru rural district police based on a complaint by a 60-year-old accountant of a Kerala based jeweller near Nadgir College at Madavara on the Bengaluru- Tumakuru Highway. The gang would hire SUVs from Kerala and commit dacoities across the state by changing the vehicles’ registration number plates. They had escaped with Rs 1 crore in cash along with other valuables from the victims.
The police checked footage of over 250 CCTVs on the highways, toll plazas. “We found that the gang had abandoned the complainant’s car on the Bengaluru-Hassan Road. They then travelled via Nagamangala, Mysuru and Chamarajanagar. They have changed the SUV registration number from Karnataka RTO to Kerala RTO at Chamarajanagar toll plaza. The team then went to Coimbatore, Palakkad, Ernakulam and other places in Kerala to collect more information of the gang,” said an officer.
The main accused Sridhar alias Kodali Sridhar from Kerala, who is on the run, has escaped with Rs 90 lakh in cash. On March 11 between 6.10 am and 6.15 am, the accused had robbed J Franklin, the accountant, a resident of Konam village at Kanyakumari while he was returning with his other colleagues after collecting cash from the jewellery buyers at Hubballi. Franklin had filed a complaint with the Madanayakanahalli police. Two SUVs and Rs 9.7 lakh in cash and other valuables have been recovered from the accused.