Beltangady: People power - Thief who stole Innova caught with support of public

Daijiworld Media Network – Beltangady (SP)

Beltangady, Feb 20: A person, who took away a Toyota Innova multi-purpose vehicle from Dharmasthala, was nabbed by the police with the help of the general public on Wednesday February 19.

A devotee named Manohar Gowda from Tumkur had come to Dharmasthala on pilgrimage. He had parked his vehicle near Netravati guest house, before proceeding to pay obeisance to Lord Manjunatheshwara. Shortly thereafter, some locals and employees of the temple sensed that the car had been driven away by a person other than its owner. They conveyed the information to the police, who got confirmation from the car owner who had returned from the temple by then, that the vehicle had indeed been stolen.

After gathering information from eyewitnesses about the direction in which the vehicle was moving, the police passed on the same to Uppinangady police. People of Kokkada village, in which direction the vehicle was moving, were asked to help the police. When the people tried to intercept the vehicle at Kokkada, the driver sped away.

Then the people there called people living at Mallige Majalu, a little distance away, to stop the car. The residents of Mallige Majalu succeeded in stopping the car, and also chasing and catching hold of the thief, when he started running away after developing a cold feet as soon as the vehicle was intercepted. However, three others, who were with the driver in the vehicle, succeeded in fleeing, it is learnt. It is suspected that this gang had been following Manohar Gowda, after noticing that he had cash in his possession.

The thief has been identified as Sunil Kumar from Koramangala, Bangalore. Police circle inspector, Lingappa Poojary, sub-inspector, Prakash Devadiga, along with the personnel of police outpost in Dharmasthala, who had hit the trail of the thief, reached the spot within a few minutes and took him into custody. A sum of Rs 2.5 lac in cash was also reportedly kept in the vehicle. The police have said the money had been found intact in the vehicle. Investigation is on.