Burqa-clad youth, his father loot Rs 80L electronics from Bengaluru shop in revenge plot

BENGALURU: Wearing a burqa and with his face concealed by a dupatta, a 21-year-old gained entry into a shop in HBR Layout and made away with high-value computer components worth Rs 80 lakh. The accused, Hemanth M's partner in crime was his 45-year-old father Manjunath M, a resident of T Channaiah Layout in Nagawara. The father-son duo has landed in the custody of Govindapura police.

The fled with 444 RAM units and 279 SSDs from Nitish Computers on the night of March 14. Police recovered the entire haul from Manjunath's grocery shop.

According to the complaint filed by shop owner Raghu G, he had shut his store around 1.40am on March 14. When he returned at 11am the next day, he found the cupboard lock broken and Rs 2.4 lakh in cash missing, along with the electronic items.

Govindpura police inspector Kiran PB and his team examined CCTV footage installed in the shop, which showed burqa-clad accused opening the shutter using a key and entering the shop at 2am. He first stole cash from the cabin, then took RAMs and hard disks packed in carton boxes, and fled in six minutes. He wore gloves in a bid to prevent leaving fingerprints.

Hemanth was arrested in Chanakya Layout, Nagawara, on March 15. He confessed to committing the theft with the help of his father, who was arrested subsequently.

Friendship turned enmity over sacking
Hemanth, who had completed his IInd year PUC, was working as a technician in Raghu's shop but was sacked a month ago. His younger brother was also employed at the same shop. After gaining experience under Raghu, Hemanth had started his own computer service store.

A few years ago, Raghu's financial situation was precarious, and he had lived as a tenant in Manjunath's house. Over time, he improved his circumstances, set up his own shop, bought a plot, and built a home. Given their close relationship, Raghu had even provided jobs to both of Manjunath's sons.

However, after being dismissed, Hemanth and Manjunath reportedly turned against Raghu, disregarding his past support, and conspired to steal from him. According to police, Manjunath dropped Hemanth near the shop on their scooter and waited nearby. After stealing the computer components, the duo fled the scene on the same vehicle.

Duplicate keys used for theft
Hemanth was aware that Raghu used to keep the shop keys in his scooter's storage box. On March 13, he borrowed Raghu's scooter on the pretext of bringing an LPG gas cylinder, got duplicate keys made, and later used them to open the shop shutter, police said.