Mangaluru: Robbers entered the house of Kateel Temple trustee Vasudeva Asranna and robbed about 80 sovereign of gold and Rs 50,000 cash on Monday night.
Around 12.30, somebody knocked on the doors of Asranna's house in the guise of devotees and asked for prasadam. When the family members asked them to come next morning, the strangers broke open the door and entered the house.
Six of them went in, while two others stood guard at the door. They spoke Hindi and Tulu. Three of them wore masks. They had a gun and other weapons. The robbers asked Vasudeva’s son Kumar for the entrance to the secret underground tunnel. When he replied that there was no such passage, they slapped him. A robber also threatened to kidnap his one-and-a-half-year-old child if the money was not given.
But another robber stopped him and told him not to touch the child. The family members asked the robbers to take the money and ornaments and not to harm anyone. The robbers locked all the family members in a room, robbed all the ornaments and left.
It is suspected that some locals, especially the three who wore masks, could be part of the gang. Though the robbers tried to speak Hindi, they were not fluent and frequently switched to Tulu.
As it was Navaratri, Vasudeva Asranna was at the temple and his wife, son and other family members were at home when the incident occurred.
