• Man and woman use renting house as a ruse to enter house
• Loot 77 gram mangalsutra and bangles worth Rs. 3.85 lakh

Mysore/Mysuru: A man and a woman robbed a retired teacher of her gold ornaments after holding her hostage in her home in Hebbal. As the robbery occurred in a densely populated residential area, the incident has alarmed residents.

Shanthamma, a 65-year-old retired teacher, was gagged and tied with a rope by two individuals who came to her house under the pretence of seeking a home for rent. The duo stole her mangalsutra and bangles worth Rs. 3,85,000.

This incident occurred just a day before a family in Siddiqui Nagar was robbed of gold, cash and valuables worth Rs. 3.15 lakh at knifepoint in the early hours of July 11. While the Siddiqui Nagar crime occurred in the early hours of July 11, the incident in Hebbal took place on July 10.

In her complaint, Shanthamma, wife of Mallaiah and a resident of Hebbal First Stage, stated that she is a retired teacher residing on the first floor of her house, while the ground floor was available for rent.

On July 10, Shanthamma was alone at home as her husband was on a tour. At around 12.45 pm, a woman and a man, aged around 20 to 30 years, knocked on her door seeking information about ground floor house available for rent. The duo introduced themselves as a couple.

The woman told Shanthamma that she was pregnant and asked for drinking water. Shanthamma politely invited them to sit in the hall while she went to the kitchen to get water. After discussing the rent and advance, the duo told Shanthamma that they would eat outside and withdraw cash from the ATM to pay the advance.

Claim of ATM malfunction

The duo left the house and returned at 3 pm, claiming their ATM card had malfunctioned and asked for Shanthamma’s phone number to transfer cash through UPI. When Shanthamma told them she did not have a UPI account, the couple said they would return on Friday with their household items and then pay the advance.

Unaware of the couple’s criminal intent, Shanthamma agreed. After some time, the woman requested keys to rest in the vacant house and to charge their phones. Shanthamma gave them the charger and keys, and they headed to the vacant house.

The couple returned after 30 minutes to hand over the keys and charger, stating they needed to catch the 5 pm train to Bengaluru and asked for water. An unsuspecting Shanthamma went to the kitchen.

Threatening tactics

As Shanthamma was filling a bottle with water, the woman came from behind and forcefully covered Shanthamma’s mouth with her right hand to prevent her from screaming while she held Shanthamma tight with the other hand. The couple then dragged Shanthamma to a room in the duplex house took out clothes from the shelf, tied her with a saree, and stuffed her mouth with clothes. They threatened her, saying they had a knife in the bag and would assault her if she raised an alarm, and also threatened to pour chilli powder into her eyes.

The man held Shanthamma tightly while the woman removed her gold chain from her neck. As the bangles were difficult to remove, the man used a cutting plier to cut them off. The duo left the house with the 77-gram stolen gold and the bag around 4:30 pm. After much struggle, Shanthamma managed to spit out the cloth and raised an alarm.

Hearing her screams, Uma, who lived across from Shanthamma, rushed to her rescue. Later, Shanthamma called her daughter-in-law to inform her about the incident. Hebbal Police have registered a case.

Inspector Mallesh and his team are sourcing CCTV footage from nearby houses and shops to identify the criminals who committed the crime. Sources said that the investigation had reached a decisive point and the criminals would be nabbed soon.