Bengaluru: 66-year-old man and son chase, nab robbers fleeing with cash bag

BENGALURU: A 66-year-old man and his son — both BBMP contractors — chased two miscreants who snatched a bag with Rs 3,000 cash and other valuables from their SUV, and with the help of passersby, caught them near Hebbal flyover on Sunday.
M Lakshminarayana, a contractor from Jalahalli, and his son, L Anjan, in his 40s, were on their way to JC Road in a Maruti Brezza. Around 6.30pm, they entered Ballari Road at Kodigehalli and were heading towards Hebbal flyover when they realised their car had a flat tyre.
Lakshminarayana had kept his cash bag, files relating to contract work, cheque books and other documents on the back seat and was sitting in the front passenger seat, while Anjan got off the car to change the tyre. After an hour or so, Anjan finished his work, washed his hands and was entering the driver’s seat when two men stood on both sides of the front windows. Speaking in Hindi, they asked the route to KR Puram. Anjan was speaking to the man standing next to him.
“As my son was explaining the route, some movement in the back caught my eye. Suddenly I turned and saw one of the men grabbing the bag from the seat. I leaned forward and caught his hand. At the same time, I shouted at the top of my voice. The man pulled back his hand and started running with my bag. His associate too joined him. My son and I started chasing them. Some passersby joined us and we caught hold of the duo after running for some 50 metres.”
Later, police found that when Anjan opened the door to get into the vehicle, one miscreant opened the backdoor knowing the central locking system would be unlocked. The duo then engaged Lakshminarayana and his son in a conversation. The accused were later handed over to Amruthahalli police. An officer said: “We suspect that these two are part of an attention- diversion gang.
Similar incident in 2020
On the same stretch, a techie-couple had bravely fought two muggers in July 2020. The techie had sustained 20 stab wounds in the incident. The du was headed to Chikkamagaluru, when the man saw two miscreants robbing two motorists at knifepoint. It was at 5 in the morning.
As the man stopped, one of the muggers approached them and attacked him with a knife. While the husband firmly held the attacker’s, the wife, sitting next to him, pressed the clutch, shifted the gear and moved the car. The muggers, meanwhile, ran away.