Colombian gang arrested for burgling house of ex-CS

BENGALURU: Five Colombians, including a woman, were arrested by Jayanagar police for allegedly burgling two residences, including that of former Karnataka chief secretary Kaushik Mukherjee, in HSR Layout.
South division police confirmed the arrests, but were not forthcoming on the details. Police investigations are believed to have been hampered initially by the problem of translation, as the Latin Americans appear to be at home in Spanish, while their interrogators are yet to find the right translator.
The arrested are Roger Smith, Edward Alejandro, T Belia, J Gloria and Josh Edward. TOI learnt that they came to India in the first week of June and stayed in a Shivajinagar hotel. They were arrested from the hotel in connection with five cases of theft in Tilaknagar, HSR Layout and Jayanagar.
Police said the five Colombians were produced in court and sent into police custody for further investigation. “Details will be shared once investigations are complete,” DCP (South division) S D Sharanappa said.
Police sources confirmed the gang’s involvement in burglaries at the houses of Mukherjee and a businessman in Jayanagar. The gang, however, failed in two burglary attempts in the past 15 days in South Bengaluru.
THE PEDRO GANG
This is not the first time that Latin Americans have been arrested for criminal activities in Bengaluru. Central Crime Branch (CCB) police had arrested a gang of four headed by one Pedro in Goa in March 2010, for allegedly stealing gold worth Rs 1.5crore a week earlier, from Pride Hotel in Central Bengaluru. Later, police learnt that they had committed similar offences in Chennai in 2009.
The gang of four gave police the slip after being released on bail. Police on their trail found that the gang had burgled a jewellery store in Tumakuru, but were unable to nab them again.
Police said they don’t want to rule out any connection between the Pedro gang and the new five-member gang. “The woman and a man among the five look similar to those arrested in 2010, and a further probe would reveal the truth,” a police officer said.
Cops were mum on how they managed to arrest the gangsters, and what was recovered from them, but admitted that they had a tough time interrogating the Spanish-speaking foreigners.
CAMERAS HELPED
CCTV footage recovered from a Jayanagar silk merchant’s residence where a burglary attempt had failed on June 22, helped police nail the Latin American gang.
The footage showed the woman, suspected to be T Belia, arriving at the residence in a high-end car. Her head covered in a scarf, the woman is seen ringing the calling bell and peeping through the windows, apparently to confirm there was no one inside.
The woman is then seen sitting on a bench in the porch and calling her associates. Within two minutes, two men wearing caps and gloves arrive and try to break open the door, while the woman waits. The trio flees on spotting the CCTV camera.