Police chase and nab six accused across eight States; two more on the run 

Mysore/Mysuru: The city Police have arrested six persons, including two masterminds, for looting a jewellery shop at Vidyaranyapuram — the masterminds of which are from Mysuru and Bengaluru. 

Though sources had confirmed to Star of Mysore yesterday that three persons were arrested, it was later officially confirmed by State Director General and Inspector General of Police Praveen Sood that six have been arrested. The DG&IGP addressed a press conference along with Home Minister Araga Jnanendra yesterday and divulged the details. 

The gang had robbed Amruth Gold and Silver Palace in Vidyaranyapuram on the evening of Aug. 23 and had shot dead 24-year-old bystander Chandru of Dadadahalli while escaping. They had entered the shop on the pretext of purchasing gold chains. The four robbers, who entered the store one after the other, closed the shutters and stole the gold after holding the shop owner Dharmendra at gunpoint. 

The State Government that was under pressure to crack the case — of this magnitude that occurred for the first time in Mysuru — heaved a sigh of relief and has announced a cash reward of Rs. 5 lakh to the team that arrested the dacoits. 

Though the dacoits had fled to different parts of the country soon after the heist, they were hunted down with the help of a technical team that had kept a close watch on their movements. A 7.65 mm country-made pistol was used in the robbery and to kill Chandru. The Police have recovered some of the ornaments and more are in the process of recovery.  

Two more on the run

While six have been arrested, two more are on the run, Sood said. “Multiple teams worked on various leads and spread their dragnet which took them across eight States and we were able to take six persons into custody. We will arrest the absconding persons also soon. It is a straightforward case of dacoity committed to loot the valuables and had the involvement of one person from Mysuru and his accomplice from Kolar,’’ he said. 

“The arrests were made in Maharashtra, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir. Two persons, who had planned the robbery, are from Mysuru and Bengaluru and they had spent time in prison. The man from Mysuru, who planned the robbery, was running a jewellery shop himself and had worked earlier in a store. He had to close his shop due to losses and he joined hands with the person from Bengaluru (Kolar) and they got a gang from outside to loot the Vidyaranyapuram shop,” the DGP said.

Well-planned operation

“It was meticulously planned and they escaped to different parts of the country. The local masterminds avoided looting the shop themselves as it would raise suspicion and instead, they contacted gangsters from North India to execute the crime. After the loot, the dacoits fled to different States to evade detection or raise suspicion. They were careful not to stay together at one place and took the quickest mode of transport to reach different destinations,” the DGP noted. 

“We cannot disclose the names of the accused and all of them are in transit and they are being brought to Mysuru after completing procedures. Also, there are certain limitations due to the prevailing High Court and Supreme Court orders on cases under investigations and as such, details cannot be disclosed,” he added. 

Commissioner praised

Both the Home Minister and the DG&IGP had a word of praise for City Police Commissioner Dr. Chandragupta. “Soon after the heist, five teams were formed by the Commissioner and the sole focus was to arrest the dacoits. Along with the physical chase team, technical and back-end teams functioned to trace the call records. Teams were also focussed on getting the CCTV footage from where it was clear that these persons were behind the robbery,” Praveen Sood said.