UDUPI: Udupi Town Police have arrested two men, including the victim’s neighbour, for allegedly barging into the house of a 74-year-old woman on the pretext of collecting information related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and robbing her of a gold chain. The police have recovered property worth about Rs 5.53 lakh from the accused.
According to police, the incident occurred around 3.47 pm on October 7 at Nittur in Udupi. Two men approached Shantha Karanth (74), who was alone at home, claiming they had come to collect information regarding the SIR exercise.
They allegedly asked her to sign some papers. When she went inside saying she would first consult her son, the duo followed her into the house, pushed her to the ground and forcibly snatched the gold chain from her neck before fleeing.
Based on a complaint lodged by her son, Srinivas Karanth, Udupi Town Police registered a case under Sections 309(4) and 3(5) of the BNS.
Following an investigation led by Udupi Town police inspector Mahesh Prasad, the accused were identified and arrested on October 10 from Mannapalla in Manipal. They have been identified as Vadiraj Ganiga (44) of Nittur and Sachin (30) of Padu village in Kapu taluk.
The police said Vadiraj was the victim’s neighbour and had borrowed money from the complainant’s family and others. Investigators said the duo committed the robbery to repay debts and finance a lavish lifestyle.
During interrogation, the accused allegedly confessed to the crime and revealed that the stolen gold chain had been pledged at an industrial credit cooperative society in Manipal. The police recovered a 34 gram gold chain worth Rs 4.5 lakh, an electric scooter used in the offence worth about Rs 90,000, and two cellphones worth Rs 13,000, taking the total value of seized property to Rs 5.53 lakh.
The accused were produced before a court, which remanded them to 14 days of judicial custody.
