Highway Robbery on Yelwal Road: Criminals falsely accuse driver of causing accident, ask him to pay up

Mysuru:  A person who was travelling in a car from Kodagu to Bengaluru was waylaid, threatened, pushed around and robbed of cash and a mobile phone at the Yelwal Bypass Road that connects Srirangapatna last evening at around 4.30 pm. No Police complaint has been filed as the victim is shaken by the incident and he was in a hurry to go to Bengaluru.

According to the victim K.A. Praveen, a resident of Ponnampet in South Kodagu, he was travelling from his house to Bengaluru in his car (KA-12-N-3714) last evening and reached the Yelwal Bypass Road at around 4 pm.

“As I approached the bypass and proceeded towards Bengaluru, two persons riding a motorcycle overtook my car and signalled me to stop. The person who was riding pillion was waving his hand vigorously and was shouting at me in a foul language. Taken aback by this, I stopped my car by the side of the road,” Praveen told Star of Mysore this morning.

Soon, the bike riders accused Praveen of causing an accident near Yelwal and demanded money. Narrating his ordeal, he said: “They alleged that I had hit my car against a bike and they even claimed that one person was injured. They pushed me around despite telling them I was not at fault. I told them that we could go to the Police Station and solve the issue.”

However, when Praveen insisted that they must go to the Police, the youth said that they can instead solve the issue there itself. “They told me that the person I allegedly injured was admitted to a hospital and demanded Rs.50,000. When I refused, they asked me to remove the gold bracelet and hand it over to them,” Praveen said.

Meanwhile, two more persons came on another bike and all of them began arguing with Praveen. “They demanded money and even told me to take them to the ATM to withdraw cash. I refused to be cowed down and they asked me to settle the case by paying Rs.12,000. When I told them that I did not have that much cash, they snatched my purse and took away Rs.8,100. They also took away my mobile phone but returned the SIM card to me,” he said.

Praveen revealed that both the bikes did not have number plates and the youth looked like thugs. “As I was shaken by the incident and had to rush to Bengaluru, I did not complain to the Police,” he added.

Star of Mysore spoke to district Police officers and they said that the incident has not come to their notice. “If the victim lodges a complaint and even informs us, we will check the CCTV visuals at the time of the incident. As of now, we do not know what exactly has happened. The incident occurred in broad daylight and some stray criminal groups might be behind the crime. In the past, there have been some similar incidents on the city outskirts and we need more information on this particular case,” a Police officer said.

This post was published on May 22, 2018 6:42 pm