Mahindra Thar SUV worth Rs. 14 lakh seized

Mysore/Mysuru: The City Crime Branch (CCB) Police have arrested one of the inter-State burglar gang members, who had burgled a Pet Medical Store in Devaraja Police limits in city and have seized a Mahindra Thar Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) worth Rs. 14 lakh from him. The Police have launched a hunt to nab four more gang members who are absconding.

The arrested accused has been identified as 33-year-old Arun Kumar alias Arun, a resident of Hebbani village in Mulbagal taluk of Kolar district.

Last month, burglars, who broke into Gowdru Pet Medical Store in Devaraja Police limits, had decamped with Rs. 1.80 lakh cash, 60 grams gold, 36 grams silver coins and other items worth Rs. 9 lakh. A case was registered at Devaraja Police Station and the case was transferred to the CCB.

CCB Police, who began their investigation, came to know that the Pet Medical Store was burgled by an inter-State burglar gang member Arun Kumar.

WhatsApp calls

The gang members, instead of using regular calls, planned the burglary by calling on WhatsApp to avoid being detected which made it difficult for the Police to trace the calls. But the CCB Police, based on the small information they had got, conducted an operation and arrested Arun Kumar in Bengaluru.

Thar robbery

During interrogation, CCB Police came to know that accused Arun Kumar had lifted the black coloured Thar SUV (TS-07-HN-7676) at Annapoorneshwari Police limits in Bengaluru and had sold the vehicle to one Krishnamurthy of Kokkanti Cross in Anantapur of Andhra Pradesh, following which the CCB Police left for Andhra Pradesh, seized the vehicle and took Krishnamurthy into custody.

Arun has 32 cases on him

Accused Arun Kumar had formed a gang, comprising his brother and one resident each from Chikkaballapur and Raichur, and used to commit burglaries. He has a total of 32 cases registered against him.

HSR Police in Bengaluru had recovered a total of 21 cars from him in the past.

This gang used to commit crimes in many States including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry and had also served jail terms in a few cases. Accused Arun Kumar was arrested for robbing a jewellery shop in Tamil Nadu.

In the Pet Medical Store robbery case, where accused Arun Kumar had decamped with cash and valuables worth Rs. 9 lakh, the Police had recovered just Rs. 1,500 and the accused had told the Police that the remaining cash and valuables were with other four gang members.

Based on the information provided by the accused, the CCB Police have launched a hunt to nab the absconding gang members. CCB Inspector Narayanaswamy, Sub-Inspector (SI) N. Anil Kumar, Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) R. Suresh and staff Jagadish, T. Prakash, Jayaram, Raghavendra and others took part in the nabbing and recovery operation.