Mysuru, Jan 20 (IANS): A Kerala businessman was attacked by a gang of four robbers and robbed of his car and cash in Karnataka's Mysuru district, officials said on Monday.

A video taken by some passersby has gone viral on social media raising concerns in the state.

According to police, Sufi, a businessman from Kerala was waylaid at Harohalli village in Jayapura Hobli in the district on Monday by a gang of four masked men. The businessman was dragged out of the vehicle by the robbers, threatened and pushed away. The gang then made away with the cash and the vehicle from the spot.

The crime was committed in broad daylight on a busy road. Sources said that Sufi was going to Kerala from Karnataka. After Sufi approached the police, the jurisdictional Jayapura police rushed to the spot and filed a case.

The police alerted all check posts on the route to Kerala and barricades have been erected at places.

The incidents of bank robberies and a shootout, in which one of the staffers of the ATM vehicle was killed, were reported from Bidar and Mangaluru shocking the state. Following the daring robberies, the police department has come under pressure. The latest incident has raised further concerns about the absence of fear in criminals.

An armed gang of five dacoits looted more than Rs 12 crore worth of gold after threatening the bank staff with guns, swords, and knives in the Mangaluru district of Karnataka last Friday.

The incident raised concerns, coming just a day after two robbers shot dead an ATM cash vehicle staffer and looted Rs 93 lakh in cash in Bidar city of the state.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah attending an event in Mangaluru city held an emergency meeting with senior police officers and ordered urgent action to nab the dacoits.

The special teams to nab the robbers in the Bidar bank robbery and shootout case are also travelling across the country and are not able to crack the case.

The police are yet to nab the accused in the case. The police department has formed eight teams under the leadership of ACP Dhanya Nayak to crack the case of Mangaluru bank dacoity. Two suspected persons are being grilled in the case.

The same Mangaluru bank was robbed in 2017. The police teams have gone to Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Mumbai and Goa.

On October 28, 2024, the robbers broke open a window of the building of the State Bank of India (SBI) and looted Rs 12.95 crore worth of gold jewellery. The gang had also taken away the DVR and CCTV installed in the bank. The police are suspecting the involvement of the same gang behind these incidents.