Daijiworld Media Network – Mysore (SP)

Mysore, Jan 26: In an incident which occurred near the busy Ramaswamy Circle in the city on Wednesday January 25, a person who lost his purse to a pickpocket was lucky enough to recover a major part of the lost money with the help of bystanders.

Srikanth (24), son of Ravi from Old Idgah Road, Mandi Mohalla in the city, was caught by passersby, when he was running away with the booty. However, Srikant’s accomplices, Shankar and Asghar, managed to flee.

The trio reportedly was active in the city. They usually waited at bus stands for gullible victims with heavy cash in their pockets. They diverted the attention of the targeted persons, before getting away with the booty, it is gathered. On Wednesday, the three arrived at Ramaswamy Circle, and chose the bus stand meant for passengers bound for Ramakrishnanagar. Three persons, Swamy, Rame Gowda, and Kemparaje Gowda from Aikanahalli village of Krishnaraja Pet taluk in the district, had brought cash with them to pay advance to a landlord located in Ramakrishnagar towards plots they wanted to buy there.

The pickpockets stood on the footboard and blocked entry of the three villagers into the bus. While Srikanth succeeded in removing cash of Rs 50,000 from the pocket of Swamy, when the latter brushed against him while getting into the bus, the other two pickpockets failed to succeed in their plan to rob the other two villagers, as they had secured their cash in the pockets of their innerwear.

Swamy, who saw the three jumping out of the bus and running away, got suspicious, checked his pocket, stopped the bus, and ran after the pickpockets. He chased them till the RTO circle before catching hold of the pickpocket with the help of some alert passersby. A crowd then beat up Srikanth, and recovered Rs 39,000 from his possession. The other two escaped. He was handed over to Lakshmipuram police station, where a case was registered. The pickpocket claimed the balance cash fell off during the scuffle.