Nobel scientist Sir CV Raman’s house robbed, two sandalwood trees stolen

BENGALURU: A gang of six men barged into the residence compound of noted scientist C V Raman, threatened the guards and made away with two sandalwood trees in the wee hours of Saturday morning. 

The residence, located in Malleshwaram, currently houses a trust and is maintained by the government. 

Around 3:30 am. on Saturday morning, the gang entered the premises and overpowered two security guards Srinivas and Gangadhar who had been deployed for night duties. The gang members were wearing monkey caps to avoid identification. After threatening the guards with lethal weapons, they forced the security staff to sit in a corner while they went to work on the two trees with a machine. 

After chopping the trees, the gang loaded the wood into two vehicles and fled the scene. 

“Srinivas has stated in the complaint that the gang was speaking Tamil and both the guards were not able to understand it. One of them held a knife to their neck and warned them not to raise an alarm. They had brought a cutting machine along with them to steal the wood. After they fled, Malleshwaram police were alerted about the incident and a team of police along with a dog squad inspected the spot", a senior police officer said.

Suspecting habitual offenders to be behind the robbery, police said that information including fingerprints was being examined to identify the robbers. Sources said that an inside job had been ruled out currently. Further investigation is on.