Enters house wearing helmet, carries chilli powder; snatches gold chain

Mysuru: Kuvempunagar Police have arrested a 24-year-old youth for allegedly snatching a gold mangalya chain from his paternal aunt to recover money lost in online trading. He reportedly wore a full-face helmet while entering her house to conceal his identity.

The accused, Rajath, was arrested within six hours of the incident, which occurred on Oct. 30 at around 11.45 am.

According to the complaint filed by 60-year-old Leelavathi, she was alone at her house near Jyothi School in Kuvempunagar Second Stage when a man entered the house, threw chilli powder into her eyes and snatched her gold mangalya chain weighing about 60 grams.

During the struggle, the chain snapped, leaving about 30 grams with the accused, while the remaining portion stayed with her. Acting on clues gathered from the scene and CCTV footage, the Police traced and arrested Rajath later that day.

During interrogation, he confessed to entering his aunt’s house wearing a helmet and carrying chilli powder, knowing that she would be alone. He admitted to throwing the powder into her eyes and snatching the chain, the Police said.

Police recovered the broken 30-gram portion of the chain from him and returned it to Leelavathi.

The accused reportedly told investigators that he had targeted his aunt’s house to raise money after suffering severe losses in online trading.

The operation was carried out under the guidance of DCP (Crime and Traffic) K.S. Sundar Raj and the supervision of Krishnaraja Sub-Division ACP K.C. Prakash.

Kuvempunagar Police Inspector D. Yogesh led the operation, assisted by PSIs Nataraj and Mohan Kumar and Crime Branch personnel V. Anand,  K. Suresh, D.S. Doddegowda, Hemanth Kumar, H.S. Basavaraj Hanjagi and M. Amogha.

The Police team’s detection work was appreciated by DCP (Law and Order) Dr. Harsha Priyamvada and City Police Commissioner Seema Latkar.