Kundapur: Police nab inter-district gang of robbers; seize gold, vehicles, weapons

Silvester D''Souza
Daijiworld Media Network – Kundapur (SP)

Kundapur, Apr 27: The police, on the evening of Friday April 26, arrested five persons when they were lurking by the side of the national highway 66 near Hanuman Petrol Bunk, Vodera Hobli near here, with the aim of waylaying vehicles and robbing valuables from the occupants.

Mohammed Ghouse alias Ghouse from Gandhinagar, Bhatkal, Akbar Ali from Ankaravalli in Sorab taluk, Shimoga district, Mohammed Samir from Mallar, Kaup, Udupi district, Mohammed Maharoof alias Maharoof from Usman Nagar, Bhatkal and Jaffer Sadique alias Sadiq from Mugdam Colony, Bhatkal, are the arrested.

The police also have recovered about 123.8 grams of gold ornaments, a mobile phone, and two motor cycles, all of which were either robbed or stolen by the arrested men. A knife, chilli powder, and two iron rods used by the accused for robbery, were also confiscated from their possession. The value of the items seized from their possession has been estimated at four lac rupees.

The operation was conducted under the guidance of district superintendent of police, Dr Boralingaiah and directions of deputy superintendents of police, Yashoda S Vantagody and police circle inspector,   Manjunath B Kavari.  Kundapur police station crime intelligence bureau police sub-inspector, Revati, along with personnel, assistant sub-inspector, Famina from the women’s police station here, and  Augustine, Venkataramana, Ramu Hegde, Sudhakar, Ashok Herikudru, Yuvaraj, Mohan Byndoor, Gopalakrishna, Navin Gangolli, Vijay Kumar, Raghavendra Uppunda, Raghavendra and driver, Ashraf, were involved with this swift operation.

The accused No. 4 and 5 have been also charged with getting into friction with law enforcement authorities. The police said that the gang was involved with thefts in various districts, and that in case of five thefts, goods have been recovered.

Four or five more associates of the gang, including Abubakker, are at large and gone into hiding, it is learnt. The arrests were made under IPC sections 177/13 and 399/402. The police are trying to get more details from the gang members, who reportedly were involved with two cases in Sorab and Bhatkal, apart from two in the town.

The gang was functioning in three districts. The police are confident of extracting more details, making more arrests, recovering more valuables, and unearthing further activities of the gang during investigation, a release from the department said.