Bengaluru: The Central Division police have busted a gang of international housebreak thieves with the arrest of a 31-year-old Tanzanian. The gang members had committed the theft at the house of a former MLA, Mr Venkatashiva Reddy, in Sadashivanagar on June 12 and made away with stolen gold ornaments and cash worth Rs 45-50 lakh.
The Tanzanian, Paul Cole, who is a resident of Muninanjappa Layout in Kothanur, is the prime accused. The police are on the lookout for four others– Francine Ivelis Brain, Subrino, Tebol and Pedro, who are suspected to be from either Brazil or Mexico.
Cole, who is also a student of BCA at Saint Hopkin’s College on Bannerghatta Road, used fake number plates on his vehicles when committing thefts. The gang targeted empty houses, the police said.
On June 12, Cole and his gang hit on the house Mr Reddy, who had gone out of the city. Mr Reddy and his family returned home late on Sunday night to find the house ransacked. The gang also printed fake credit and debit cards and card making machines were recovered from Cole’s house.
“The gang used fake cards to buy gold in Kerala and other states. They bought jewellery and expensive watches worth more than Rs 15 lakh. At the time of purchases they submitted photocopies of fake passports to jewellery shops,” the police said.
