Looting cash, jewellery after diverting attention

Mysuru: Public beware, a gang from Tamil Nadu, which diverts your attention and loots cash and gold jewellery, is active in city.

The modus operandi of the ‘attention diversion’ gang is simple, they divert the attention of the victim by dropping a few currency notes or sprinkling some thing on the victim’s shirt or engage him or her in a verbal communication and once the attention of the victim is diverted, the gang makes good with the cash bag or gold ornaments of the victim. So beware, if you find currency notes on the road and try to pick them up, the gang members, will rob your belongings without your notice.

A gang of six members, said to be from Tamil Nadu, has diverted the attention of the public and have looted them at various places in Bengaluru since six months. Sources said that the same gang is now operating in Mysuru.

The gang is mostly active near banks, finance companies, gold and silver shops, pawn broker shops, malls and other commercial establishments. The gang mostly targets elderly persons and women. They also target people coming out of the banks after drawing cash and they operate in pairs. 

After noticing people keeping cash and jewellery in scooter dickey or car, the gang members target such people. The gang members then drop a few currency notes near the victim and wait for the victim to pick up the currency notes by keeping a watch at a distance. When the victim tries to picks up the currency notes, the gang members, who approach the victim, loot cash and jewellery in such a way that the incident do not come to the notice of the victim.

Precautions to be taken

Installation of CCTV at all important junctions, banks and public places can help identify the accused. There were cases in the past when Police were able to identify the miscreants with the help of CC TV footages. This apart, people also should become cautious and keep unknown people at a distance and stay alert when approached by strangers. At times, some of the gangs approach the victim as if they know them. In general, people who draw cash from banks should not get their attention diverted on trivial issues and should directly proceed to the destination without stopping at any place.

Meanwhile, the Police have suspected the hands of the same gang behind looting Rs. 10 lakh from a car after breaking the glass at V.V. Puram on Friday. 

The victim, Manoj Kumar, a jeweller from Periyapatna, had come to city on Friday. Two bike-borne miscreants had followed him. When Manoj Kumar stopped his car near a bank in V.V. Puram and went inside the bank, the miscreants, who made use of the opportunity, broke the glass of the car and made away with Rs. 10 lakh kept in the car. The Police, who have suspected the incident to be the handiwork of the Tamil Nadu gang, are investigating.