Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Sep 1: In two separate incidents which occurred within the limits of Manipal police station on Sunday August 30, two elderly people were deceived by chain snatchers. In these two incidents, gold ornaments worth Rs 1.5 lac were taken away by the cheaters.

Rajeevi Prabhu (67) from Indrali here was walking towards her apartment after getting down from a bus at Laxmindranagara at around 3.15 pm when two persons seated in a motor bike stopped her in front of Kalkura Palace in V P Nagar. They distracted her attention in the guise of inquiring her flat number. Even as Rajeevi got alerted and said she did not know, one of the two yanked away a two and half sovereign gold chain from her neck. The value of the chain lost in this incident has been stated to be about Rs 40,000.

Vishnudas Bhat (63), a resident of Saralebettu in Manipal, was walking after crossing Tiger Circle at Manipal at 3.20 pm on Sunday, when two persons in a motor bike introduced one among them as a traffic policeman. The self-claimed policemen advised Bhat to desist from roaming around in the public with gold ornaments on his body and other valuables as he runs the risk of losing them. At his advice, Bhat removed his ornaments, after which the stranger kept the gold ornaments in a towel and handed over the folded towel to Bhat.

After the youth left, Vishnudas opened his towel to find that his cell phone and cash were intact, but golden chain and two rings had been taken away by the thieves.

The value of items lost in this incident has been estimated at Rs 1,10,000. The complainant said in the complaint that the registration number of the two-wheeler in which the strangers had accosted him started with MH 07.