BENGALURU: An apparently pregnant woman and a little boy, believed to be her son, allegedly robbed a 32-year-old woman passenger while diverting her attention by dropping coins during a bus journey from Hosur to Bengaluru on Thursday. She alleged in a police complaint that she was conned by a 'pregnant' woman and her two-yearold son who were sitting next to her. When the accused woman and her 'son' got off the bus near Chandapura Junction near Electronics City, she realised that she was conned out of her 117 gm gold chain and Rs 47,000 cash.
The complainant, Saraswathi Ramesh, a resident of Konanakunte, stated that the accused woman, aged about 30, was 'pregnant' and diverted her attention by using her twoyear- old innocent child at around 12.30 pm while travelling in the bus. On the way, the accused woman gave a coin to her son, who dropped it twice. Feeling sorry for the 'pregnant' woman, who might have been feeling uneasy to bend and pick up the coin, Saraswathi picked it up and gave it to the boy. But he kept dropping the coin repeatedly, and Saraswathi picked it up every time. Around 1.30 pm, the bus reached Chandapura Junction and the 'pregnant' woman and her boy got down from the bus.
After few minutes, Saraswathi reached out for her wallet — which had a gold chain and cash — in the bag and was shocked to see that it was gone. She realised she was conned by her co-passenger and alerted the bus staff. Saraswathi even got down from the bus in the middle of the road to look for the accused woman, but in vain. She took help from an auto driver and approached the police to file a case, the police said. "Saraswathi mentioned details of the accused — she had short hair and was speaking in Telugu.
Saraswathi had come to Hosur on Wednesday to see her children at her parents' house where they were spending their summer vacation. She had brought cash and valuables to give to her sister, who is constructing a house in South Bengaluru. Footage from the CCTV cameras at Chandapura Junction are being examined to ascertain the identify of the accused, and Hosur police were also alerted about the incident. Preliminary investigations revealed that the woman may be a habitual offender and the police are checking earlier cases wherein a similar modus operandi was operated to