Woman’s rescue leads to arrest; stolen bikes worth Rs. 2.85 lakh seized
Mysuru: The Mandi Mohalla Police, investigating the abduction of a woman by two men near Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Circle (Highway Circle) on the intervening night of Oct. 30 and 31, have arrested the prime accused on Nov. 3.
Police rescued the woman in the early hours of Oct. 31 from a park near ESI Hospital. The other accused, identified as Pradeep, was arrested the same day.
Police identified the prime accused as Manjunath alias Aravind, a resident of Vishveshwaranagar in city. He also turned out to be a habitual two-wheeler thief.
The Police have recovered eight stolen bikes worth about Rs. 2.85 lakh from him.
Investigations revealed that Aravind targeted two-wheelers whose owners had left keys in the vehicles. He also stole bikes by breaking locks and directly connecting the ignition wires.
CCTV footage leads to arrest
After rescuing the woman, Mandi Police formed a special team to trace Aravind. The team collected CCTV footage from petrol bunks in and around the city as part of the investigation.
Footage from a petrol bunk near Metropole Hotel Circle showed Aravind filling petrol in a stolen bike. The footage helped the Police identify him.
On the night of Nov. 2, a team of Mandi Police personnel checking vehicles near the City Railway Station intercepted Aravind while he was riding another stolen bike. He was taken into custody for questioning and the motorcycle was seized.
During interrogation, Aravind confessed to stealing two-wheelers and pledging them with a friend for Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 3,000 each.
Acting on his information, the Police raided his friend’s house and recovered three stolen bikes pledged by him. A subsequent search of Aravind’s house led to the recovery of three more bikes. Along with the motorcycle seized near the Railway Station, the total recovery stood at eight stolen two-wheelers. Aravind was produced before a Court on Nov. 3. On a petition by the Mandi Police, the Court remanded him to Police custody for three days for further interrogation.
Woman abducted at Highway Circle
It may be recalled that at about 2.30 am on Oct. 31, auto drivers and members of the public noticed a woman running and screaming near a park adjacent to ESI Hospital on KRS Road, with two men chasing her. They rushed to her rescue, following which one of the men fled while the other was caught.
The public alerted the Police through the emergency helpline 112. The response team took the woman and the man, identified as Pradeep, 24, a resident of Kengeri in Bengaluru, to V.V. Puram Police Station.
The woman told the Police that the duo had forcibly taken her from Highway Circle. V.V. Puram Police subsequently handed over the woman and Pradeep to the Mandi Mohalla Police Station at around 5 am.
Pradeep reportedly told the Police that he was riding a motorcycle with Aravind when they spotted the woman. During interrogation, Aravind confessed to abducting her with the intention of robbing her of any gold jewellery she might be wearing or sexually exploiting her.
The woman told the Police that she was staying at her aunt’s house in Bada Makhan and that her husband was in jail. She reportedly remained indoors during the day and begged on the streets at night.
The Mandi Police had registered an abduction case against Pradeep and Aravind and launched a search for the latter. The woman and her child have since been shifted to her in-laws’ house.
Youths rewarded for rescuing woman
Following Aravind’s arrest, Mandi Mohalla Inspector Diwakar summoned the two youths who had come to the woman’s rescue to the Police Station and felicitated them. He also gave them Rs. 5,000 each from his personal funds in appreciation of their timely intervention.
With Aravind’s arrest, the Police have solved eight two-wheeler theft cases, two each reported in the limits of Saraswathipuram, Krishnaraja and Vidyaranyapuram Police Stations and one each in the limits of V.V. Puram and Narasimharaja Police Stations.
The detection team comprised Inspector Diwakar, Sub-Inspector Mahendra, Raju Konakeri and Police personnel Janardhan Rao, Somashetti, Rajesh, Prem Kumar, Bashasab, Kiran, Devaraj, Udayaraj, Hogesh, Shivaraju, Chandrashekhar and Dadapeer. City Police Commissioner Seema Latkar, DCP (Crime and Traffic) K.S. Sundar Raj and Narasimharaja ACP K.T. Mathews Thomas, have lauded the efforts of the investigating team.
This post was published on November 6, 2026 7:30 pm