BANGALORE: Their plot to get their hands on a ‘treasure’ cost two painters dear.
Srinivas alias Seena (25) of Vidyaranyapura and Prabhu Kumar (23) of Thindlu heard a rumour about a treasure at the house of Narasimha Reddy, a realtor residing at Kanshi Ram Nagar in Vidyaranyapura.
Reddy constructed the house about six years ago and planned to build a temple on the premises. He had dug the earth for it about three years ago but dropped the plan later and left the pit open. This led to talk about a treasure being unearthed in the compound, police said.
The neighbours discussed it and so did the painters’ colleagues in the area. Excited, Srinivas and Kumar plotted to get their hands on the treasure, which they believed was kept at the house.
Disguised as salesmen, the duo went to Reddy’s house on the evening of May 26. Reddy’s relative Padmaja and two children were home. Police said the men claimed to have some valuables that they wanted to sell as they needed money urgently, but Padmaja did not entertain them.
Meanwhile, they asked her for water and followed her to the kitchen, where they threatened her with weapons. Srinivas and Kumar stole gold jewellery and a panchaloha idol kept in the pooja room, all worth `2.5 lakh. It was later recovered by the police.
The accused had pledged the valuables with a pawn broker in Thanisandra and Manappuram Finance and used the money to party every day, police said.
Initially, it was suspected that people known to the family were behind the crime. Police were then briefed about the visit by Srinivas and Kumar and the duo confessed on grilling.