BENGALURU: The gang thought it was a surefire way to earn money with a modus operandi involving police.
The plan was simple: One member would steal gold ornaments, pledge them with loan companies and raise lakhs of rupees. In the meantime, others would lodge a complaint and also alert police about the person who pledged the gold. While cops would arrest the thief and gloat over having solved the crime, the gang would not only get back their jewellery but also get to keep the loan amount.
But the ambitious plan went kaput when police examined the recovered ornaments thoroughly and raised a question. Why would a Hindu family (which lost jewellery) have ornaments that are typical of Muslim households? Their poser blew the lid off a fraud and the cops realised t they were being taken for a ride by the complainant and the thief, who are part of the same gang.
Sarjapur police arrested seven people, including five from a family, in this connection. The arrested are: 55-year-old Raviprakash of Devendrapalya in Yeshwantpur, his 30-year-old son Mithun Kumar and daughter-in-law Sangeetha of Chikkabanavara, 26-year-old daughter Asha P and son-in-law Nallu Charan of Sevaganapalli near Hosur in Tamil Nadu, Kumar’s driver Deepak B of Mallasandra and Kumar’s friend Asma of Chikkabanavara. They had pledged 1,250 grams of gold.
The entire episode unfolded when Asha filed a theft case on September 19, 2021, alleging that a miscreant had stolen her bag inside an apparel shop in Sarjapur when she and family members were purchasing a sari. She claimed the bag contained Rs 30,000, a mobile phone and gold weighing 1,250 grams.
Asha’s father Raviprakash told police his family used to deck up goddess Lakshmi with ornaments during Varamahalakshmi festival and would wear the same only after puja at a temple in Mysuru. The theft had happened when they were on their way to the temple.
Initially, police did not suspect foul play and started probing. A team led by inspector Raghavendra Imrapur identified the thief as Deepak and arrested him in December. Deepak then confessed to the crime and claimed he had pledged the gold ornaments with different financial companies.
Police have recovered 500 grams of gold based on his information. But they smelt something fishy when they found some ornament designs were those that are usually worn by Muslim women. Upon interrogation, Deepak spilled the beans.
