BENGALURU: Good observational skills help police officers in connecting the dots and cracking challenging cases. When constables Basavaraj Lamani and Devarajaiah were summoned for a meeting and shown the CCTV images of chain-snatchers, they looked at each other in shock as one of the suspects, who sported a ponytail, had been spotted by them at a tea shop a few hours ago.
Swinging into action, they succeeded in nabbing a gang of inter-state criminals before the latter could catch a flight to Delhi and recovered six gold chains worth Rs 10 lakh. “If the constables had not noticed the suspect with the ponytail and recognised him, the gang would have escaped,” a senior police officer told STOI, while stating that six cases have been solved.
Attached to Bagalur police station, Lamani and Devarajaiah had observed half-a-dozen men, including the one with the ponytail, outside a tea stall at Kannamangala near Bagalur before attending the meeting called by senior officers. Soon, police teams reached the spot and the tea shop owner told them about the villa where the men lived. After brief interrogation, police arrested the six gang members. Air tickets recovered from them showed that two prime suspects were about to leave for Kempegowda International Airport to board a Delhi-bound flight on the same night.
Sharing their experience, Devarajaiah and Lamani said they will never forget the case. “We knew that six chain-snatching cases were proving difficult to crack. We all were tense and wanted to solve them. But we never thought it would end this way,” they said, adding: “We are happy that the accused were caught early. They were planning to rob more victims.”
The accused are Suresh Kumar alias Pandit alias Subhash, 32, Haseen Khan, 23, A Irshad, 24, M Saleem, 22, M Afroz alias Shahid, 25, all residents of Delhi and Harris PK alias Harris, 37, of Wayanad in Kerala. Suresh and Haseen face at least 24 criminal cases, including those of robbery in Delhi, said deputy commissioner of police (northeast) CK Baba.
“Harris had booked a villa for a month in his name. Prime accused Suresh and Haseen flew down to the city from Delhi on February 1. The same day, they stole a motorbike in Chikkajala, replaced the number with a fake one and started a recce. After making mental notes of the areas, Suresh flew back to Delhi on February 9 night. There, he roped in three others to assist him in snatching chains. He again arrived here on February 11 morning and the others reached by train on February 13. The gang operated on February 16 and February 17 and snatched chains from six victims,” Baba explained.
Additional commissioner of police S Murugan said they will question the villa owner too. “On what basis did he rent it to the accused?” he said. According to investigating officers, the villa was rented to Harris for Rs 30,000 per month. “Harris had been living there since the third week of January. The accused claim this is their first visit to the city. We are cross-checking their details with the crime records bureau,” an officer said.