Daijiworld Media Network – Moodbidri (SP)
Moodbidri, Sep 9: Unknown middlemen, who enticed a rich couple from Hyderabad to come to Moodbidri by promising them to find a suitable bride for their son, robbed them of their belongings after accommodating them at Pandith Resorts here. The incident came to light on Thursday September 8.
The couple, Rambabu and Lakshmiraja from Hyderabad, have three sons, all of whom are employed in London. After they put up an advertisement in a local newspaper of Hyderabad seeking suitable bride for their son, some middlemen contacted them. The middlemen reportedly told the couple that they have in their mind a girl matching the status and educational qualification of the couple’s son. The couple was invited to Mangalore for having a dialogue with the girl’s family. As soon as the couple alighted from an aircraft at Mangalore airport on Wednesday evening, the middlemen approached them and took them to Pandith Resort on the side of national highway at Moodbidri, where a cottage had been booked for them in advance.
It is surmised that the middlemen gave food mixed with intoxicating substance to the couple at night. As soon as the couple fell unconscious, the middlemen robbed them of nine sovereigns of gold ornaments, Rs 7,000 in cash, and new clothes valued at around Rs 5,000, policemen of Moodbidri station, where a complaint has been lodged, said.
The middlemen had booked a car from a travelling agency based in Mangalore, by registering their name as Srikanth from Tumkur. They then asked the taxi driver to take them to Bangalore to bring another family back to Mangalore. Once the car reached Majestic area in Bangalore, the middlemen paid Rs 1,000 to the driver, asking him to buy petrol and come back to the same spot. As they never came back even after prolonged wait, the driver contacted his owners. The matter was passed on to Moodbidri police, who went to Pandith Resort to check the matter. There they found the couple lying in semi-conscious state in their cottage.
The policemen have taken up investigation, after registering a case. They have been pooling information about the robbers from various sources in an effort to nab them.