Bengaluru: A 35-year-old man, who allegedly committed chain snatching and thefts to arrange funds for a movie, has been arrested by the Basaveshwaranagar police. He was involved in 10 cases and was directing a Kannada movie titled 'Double Meaning'.
The accused, Rangappa alias Prathap Rangu, hails from Madhugiri in Tumakuru and stayed in Sriramanagar in Mahalakshmi Layout. Prathap was working with a BBMP contractor and had started the movie, Double Meaning, about a year ago. He was the co-producer and director of the movie, besides penning the story, screenplay, dialogues and lyrics. As he had no money to continue the movie, he started committing thefts to arrange funds for the movie.
“He targeted women who were sleeping keeping the door or window open and snatched their chains. He also stole gold chains kept near open windows. He used to target lonely women on streets and snatched their chains. In the last 8-9 months, he has committed 10 such offences including five cases in Basaveshwaranagar police station limits alone,” an official said.
When the police came across many cases of thefts happening in the night, they rounded up suspects, including Prathap. When questioned, he confessed, the police said. Gold chains weighing 430 gm, worth Rs 12 lakh, were seized from him.
