Daring robbers target jeweller, land in police net in 3 hours

BENGALURU: The Subramanyanagar police have arrested a gang of four men who allegedly kidnapped a jewellery shop owner and robbed him of gold ingots worth Rs 20 lakh. The police cracked the case within three hours after the case was registered.

Harish, 29, of Nandini Layout, S. Umesh, 26, of Rajajinagar first block, M Prashanth, 24, of Kaval Byrasandra, and Pratap, 23, of K.G. Halli are the accused. Harish was reportedly working as PA to former Deputy Mayor S Harish and had left the job two years ago. He had bought a car and rented it out to earn a living.

The four have been accused of kidnapping Mangal Das, 49, a resident of Rajajinagar 19th Main, who runs Guruprasad Jewelers and Gems shop near the house. Police said that Mangal Das knew former Deputy Mayor Harish and used to visit his house. When Harish was working as PA, he learnt about Das’s business and planned to kidnap Das for ransom.

“Harish learnt the Das was planning to buy a flat and he approached him saying that he would help him as his friend Umesh, an accused, was a real estate agent. From the last 6-7 days, the accused duo took Das to several apartments on the pretext of showing him flats and gain his confidence,” the police said.

“On Friday around 2.30 pm, Harish came to Das’s shop in his car and told him that there was a flat in Hebbal and the owner was asking to come immediately. Trusting him, Das went with Harish in the latter’s car. Harish took him to an under construction site, where Umesh and the other accused were waiting. All the four, took Das to the fourth floor and threatened him at knife point demanding Rs 50 lakh. Das pleaded that he did not have at that moment and told them that he would give them if they took him to his shop,” the police explained.

“The accused took him to the shop, where they damaged the CCTV cameras and then took away seven gold ingots, 100 grams each, and escaped. They threatened Das against filing a police complaint. However, his elder brother Rajesh noticed that Das looked worried and upset. When he enquired, Das told him about the incident. Later, Rajesh brought Das to the police station and case was registered at 9 pm. Das had given the registration number of the car belonging to Harish and also his phone number. Harish’s mobile signals were traced and all the four accused were nabbed on the city outskirts around 12 midnight. The gold ingots worth '20 lakh were recovered intact,” the police said.