Gang Involved in 21 Thefts Arrested, Valuables Seized

The Jayanagar police have arrested Kommaghatta Manjunath alias Manju (32) and three others, who are said to have committed 21 burglaries.

The Jayanagar police have arrested Kommaghatta Manjunath alias Manju (32) and three others, who are said to have committed 21 burglaries.

Police have recovered gold and silver jewellery worth `75 lakh and two cars used for the crimes. The other accused are  Shivaraj (24) from Harohalli in Mysore, Antony Raj (25) from Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu and Seejan Philiraj (29).

According to police sources, the gang used to do a recce of posh houses which were locked. To ensure that the owners were out of station, they would place a pot right outside the front door. If the pot remained in place after some time, they would break in. “Whenever he (Manjunath) called his brother, who was lodged in jail for various burglary and theft cases, he never used the same SIM twice and disposed of the phone after calling,” a police officer said.

Manjunath, who is said to have begun robbing people at the age of 17, learnt the tricks of the trade after being jailed once. He picked his associates from prison and ensured their loyalty by posting their bail.

5 Held for Murder

Five people were arrested by the South-east division police on Thursday for allegedly murdering a man and dumping his body in Begur Lake. The arrested are Somashekar alias Soma (32), Ranjith (22),  Jayaramareddy alias Jayanna (50), Manjunath alias Manja (22) and Naveen S (27).

On April 9, a body was found floating in the lake. The deceased Srinivas was the son of Munivenkatappa, a resident of Hebbagodi. Police sources said Srinivas’ older brother Manjunath said the former had received a phone call in the middle of the night a few days before he was found dead. Further investigation revealed that Srinivas was involved with a married woman Shwetha, from a neighbouring village.

Police said Srinivas’ cell phone records had revealed that he had received a call from Shwetha’s number on April 6. Her husband Somashekar asked her to invite Srinivas home. Around 11.20 pm that night, she asked Srinivas to come to her house.

When Srinivas reached the house, Somashekar, with the help of four friends, assaulted him with rods. He allegedly killed him by suffocating him before dumping his body in Begur Lake.

Jewellery Designer Robbed

Bangalore: Hanumanthnagar police have arrested a car driver and an autorickshaw driver who allegedly robbed a gold jewellery designer of cash, gold and silver ornaments and an uncut diamond.

Suresh (24) and Siddaraju (23) are said to have befriended 40-year-old Ratan and frequently visited his house to watch cricket matches. On March 23, the duo stole Ratan’s house key and made a duplicate. Six days later, they entered Ratan’s home when he was out and made away with 1 kg gold, 115 gms of silver, one uncut diamond and `10,900 cash — totalling `35 lakh.   

According to police, the two had even  accompanied Ratan to the station to file a complaint.

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