BENGALURU: Nandini Layout police shot a rowdy sheeter in the knee after he attacked policemen early on Tuesday morning. The rowdy, Bharatha aka Bobby (25), attacked and injured Sub-Inspector Lakshman and Constable Umesh. The police said that they traced Bharatha with the help of GPRS fitted on the bike he was riding and shot him.
This is the first shootout in the city after new Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao took charge.
Nandini Layout police got information that a biker, Manjunath, who was going near Laggere Bridge, had been robbed of money and mobile phone. The cops swung into action with directions from DCP North Shashi Kumar and Inspector B.N. Lohith.
They got information that the robber was riding the bike, a rental vehicle, that was robbed from near Jalahalli Prestige apartment. The cops traced him as the bike was fitted with the GPRS by the rental company and stopped him. But he jumped off the two-wheeler and ran into the old HMT building. His two associates managed to escape.
The police then identified him as rowdy Bharatha alias Bobby. As the police approached him, he attacked Constable Umesh with a dagger. PSI Lakshman fired a warning shot in the air. But when Bharatha did not relent and continued to attack them, he was shot in the right knee. As Bharatha collapsed, he was shifted to a hospital.
Nandini Layout police said that Bharatha was involved in an attempt to murder case on August 10 when he and his men attacked Venkatesh aka Kadu, another rowdy, with a dagger while he was walking home with his father. Bharatha, who came out of the jail a month ago, attacked Venkatesh as the latter had not visited him in jail and not given him money.
Bharatha had two attempts to murder cases in Mahalakshmi Layout police station and two in Nandini Layout police station. He also had robbery cases against him in Bya-tarayapura and Nelam-angala police stations.
