Davanagere, Feb 16 (IANS): The hit-and-run case in which three youths were killed near Davangere city has taken a twist. The probe has revealed that the victims robbed truck drivers, and one of the truck drivers mowed them, police said on Thursday.
Davanagere Rural Police and District Crime in-charge Bureau (DCIB) sleuths cracked the case and arrested the truck driver. The police have also arrested three associates of the victims.
According to police, the deceased victims were part of a six-member robbers' gang. They had gone to rob truck drivers on two bikes. They used to stand on the side of the national highway and indulge in crime.
The truck driver, who mowed down the three robbers, has been identified as Bhole Yadav from Uttar Pradesh. The police have arrested him from Chennai in Tamil Nadu.
Nagaraj, Ganesh and Rahul, the associates of the deceased persons and part of a robbery gang were also arrested. They had suffered minor injuries and managed to escape from being mowed down by the same truck driver when the incident took place. They were also absconding after the incident.
The police said that the deceased had threatened, assaulted truck driver Bhole Yadav. They extorted Rs 8,000 and robbed mobile and other articles.
Enraged by this incident, the accused truck driver had chased the robbers' gang moving on two bikes and mowed down one of the vehicles.
The incident of the three youths being killed on the spot in the hit-and-run case come to light on Saturday (February 10).
The incident had taken place on the National Highway 48 near Anagoda. 24-year-old Parashuram, 23-year-old Sandesh and 26-year-old Shivu, all residents of Ramnagar near Davangere were killed on the spot.
Earlier, the family members maintained that the youths had gone to attend a religious function to Katihalli village and were returning to their place on bike.
Davanagere Rural police had inspected the spot and had taken up the investigation. The police had also collected CCTV footage and statements from the people regarding the incident.