Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Feb 9: Residents of Pavoor village caught hold of 11 thieves when they were trying to steal things, and handed them over to Konaje police on Wednesday night. These villagers have been bothered by a spate of thefts since about a month, none of which has been solved so far. Most of the thefts had occurred in Farid Nagar, Ullas Nagar, Oddadaguri, Bavaliguli, New Padpu and Fajir areas surrounding Gramachavadi.

All the arrested men are natives of Tokkottu, Kallapu, and surrounding places. All of them are teenagers and none of them is aged over 18. Some of the accused are members of the Kabaddi team from Tokkottu.

The villagers, who were frustrated by the disappearance of their valuables of late, had kept watch over unnatural movements of people. They grew suspicious about the members of the above gang, as they moved around without any purpose, in auto rickshaws and motor bikes, every night. Over 100 youngsters from the village formed a team and nabbed the gang, when it was trying to steal telephone cables and iron gate from near Baraka Factory near Gramachavadi area in Pavoor on Wednesday evening. Although the youth tried to flee, the villagers chased them, caught hold of them, and handed them over to police after thrashing them.

The villagers suspect that these youth had formed a Dandupalya-like gang for thefts. One of the villagers said he had seen a woman with gang members. The gang members used to loiter around the village, peep through the windows, and then enter the houses through the roof when no one was around. In addition to valuables, they also took away scrap, gates, telephone cables, etc, it is alleged.