Fear grips people as extortion, robberies, chain-snatching and assaults are on the rise

Mysuru: With Mysureans living in a sense of fear following a spurt in incidents of extortion, robbing motorists by waylaying them, chain snatchings and assault, the city is taking shape to become a safe haven for anti-social elements. This is evident with more than 10 cases being reported in a month.

With little Police surveillance and monitoring in residential areas, illegal activities are gradually increasing, say residents. Even parks are now becoming dens for nefarious activities. As a proof for anti-social elements ruling the roost, residents cite many examples of crime that took place a couple of days back. 

Man assaulted, Rs. 50,000 robbed

On Wednesday (Nov. 6), two miscreants assaulted a man at Shanthinagar and robbed him of Rs. 50,000 cash and mobile phone. The victim is Palaniswamy of Ittigegud. Palaniswamy was talking with others on the 17th Cross, when two miscreants on a red scooter attacked him all of a sudden, threatened him by brandishing a knife, punched him on his stomach and hit him with the handle of a knife. They took away Rs. 50,000 cash and his mobile phone before fleeing. A case has been registered at Udayagiri Police Station.

Rs. 85,000 snatched

On Monday (Nov. 4), in broad daylight, a group of miscreants, waylaid a scooter near LIC Circle and robbed a man of Rs. 85,000 while he was on his way to deposit the cash to his bank account.

The victim is Amal, a native of Kerala, who is working as a Manager at a resort in Hebbal. He was proceeding to the SBI cash deposit kiosk at Yadavagiri on his brother’s scooter when three youths in the age group of 18 to 20 years came in a red colour car and blocked his way in front of St. Philomena’s College gate near LIC Circle. They then accused Amal of riding their scooter after changing the number plate.

As a fight ensued between Amal and the youths, one of the youths lifted the cash from Amal’s pocket and fled in the car. Amal could only remember ‘KA-03’ from the registration plate of the car, according to a complaint lodged at N.R. Police.

Acting on the complaint, the N.R. Police have arrested one of the three miscreants and have recovered Rs. 2,500 cash, one TVS Apache RTR 180 bike and the car that was used for the crime. The arrested is 20-year-old Mohammed Siddique, a resident of 7th Cross on Indira Gandhi Road in Ghousianagar.

During interrogation, the accused is said to have confessed of lifting a bike at Karighatta in Srirangapatna. The miscreants had booked the car online from a rental company. The other accused are absconding.

iPhone, debit cards grabbed

On Nov. 2 at about 10 pm, two miscreants had waylaid a foreigner near BSNL Office close to Hardinge Circle (JC Wadiyar Circle) and had snatched her iPhone and two debit cards. The miscreants were aged between 20 and 26 years and had come on a bike. A case has been registered at Nazarbad Police Station.

Delivery boy targeted

On the same night at 10.30, four miscreants in two bikes snatched a bag containing parcels and a mobile phone from Prasanna Kumar, a courier delivery boy on the road connecting DC Office from JLB Road. 

Threatened to rob

A man, who had come from Coimbatore, got down a bus near Gun House Circle late night on Oct. 28 and was walking on Ramanuja Road to go to his daughter’s house when two persons on a scooter robbed him of two mobile phones, a gold finger ring and cash after threatening him.

Chain-snatching

On Oct. 23, a chain snatcher managed to make away with a part of the gold chain of one Uma at Alanahalli Layout. As she held on to the chain tightly, the bike-borne miscreant managed to snatch a part of the chain and fled.

Walker not spared

On Oct. 17, a miscreant snatched the mobile phone of one Kushal Gupta who was walking on Krishna Vilasa Road and fled on the bike on which his accomplice was waiting at a distance. Another phone belonging to one Vinay was snatched on the night of Oct. 13 at City Bus Stand.

Crime at Exhibition parking

Miscreants made away with gold jewellery worth lakhs of rupees from a car which was parked at the Dasara Exhibition parking lot at Doddakere Maidan on Oct. 9. The miscreants smashed the car glasses and stole the bag in which the gold jewels were kept. A case has been registered at Nazarbad Police Station.

Apart from the above incidents, there are many incidents that go unnoticed as the victims do not file complaints. Miscreants are mostly youths in the age group of 20-30 years who target pedestrians, lonely women and elderly persons. Miscreants snatch whatever they could lay their hands on and escape on high-end bikes.

Though the Police conduct regular beats, such incidents are not prevented and this has created a sense of fear, residents say.