Dakshina Kannada police nab inter-state gang of thieves

MANGALORE: Dakshina Kannada district police has busted an inter-state gang of thieves by arresting seven persons - six of them from Betageri, and one from Hombalnagar, of Gadag district. The gang comprising of four women and three women preyed on frailties of pilgrims at important pilgrimage centres in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka before they were nabbed by personnel of Belthangady police station on September 11.
Abhishek Goyal, superintendent of police said the accused are Srinivas, 32; Maulana Saab, 35; Lakkavva, 45; Sharada, 24; Thipavva, 35; Kamala Parvathi, 65; all from sub-jail road, Settlement Area, Betageri; and Suresh Soma Reddy Kodaganti, 28, of Hombalnagar. A police team headed by Yogish Kumar, PSI, Belthangady and staff with help of local people nabbed the accused while inspecting vehicles near Nethravathi bathing ghat at Dharmasthala.
MN Anucheth, assistant superintendent of police, Puttur said the modus operandi of the accused was to target pilgrims in crowded pilgrimage centre and decamp with their valuables and other belongings by either diverting their attention, or accosting those moving around alone and relieving them of their valuables. Police have detected two such cases registered in Belthangady PS with their arrest and recovered property worth Rs 7 lakh, he said.
The accused had purchased a sports utility vehicle (KA-22 3339) three months back and used to move around in that vehicle, Anucheth said, adding that the fingerprints of the accused has been sent to other police stations to verify if they were involved in similar cases elsewhere. "There are a couple of undetected cases of theft reported from Dharmasthala area and we are trying to ascertain if this group was involved in these cases as well," Abhishek noted.