Sullia: Under instructions from DK superintendent of police Dr Sharanappa S D, three teams have been constituted to investigate into the robbery in the house of P Ramachandra of Bharat Agro Supplies and Services, located in Kantamangala near the bridge leading to Ajjavara on Saturday, Oct 10 in the early hours.
The couple and the maid were bound by a gang that broke into the house and looted gold worth Rs 8 lakh and Rs 65,000 in cash. They had threatened them with a long knife. Ramachandra’s wife Manjula, who could converse in Telugu, requested them not to harm the housemaid. The culprits did not even spare Manjula’s mangalsutra.
The only act of kindness they showed was asking Ramachandra if the ceiling fan had to be switched on for comfort. They did so while leaving. They also took away a stock of ice-cream from the refrigerator to chill out after the effort.
Two mobile phones were also taken away. Of them, one has remained switched off since the same morning while the second was found in a well nearby. It was found that they had first cut off the landline phone cable.
Materials like ropes, Kannada and Telugu periodicals, umbrella, hand gloves, a monkey cap and shoes have been found in the farm, which have been seized by the police. The couple and the maid had deep bruise marks on their bodies because of being bound with ropes.
After the robbery took place, the maid realized that her hand had remained slightly loose. She managed to release herself soon and also untie her employers. Her mobile phone had missed the robbers’ attention. With the help of it, the police were contacted. But because of talk-time currency shortage, much communication was not possible.
They reconnected the landline cable and informed the police and other well-wishers.
Sub-inspector Chandrashekhar, crime inspector Sanjay Kallur and their teams immediately arrived on the scene by 4-15 pm. Circle inspector B S Satish, who had just landed from Bengaluru by night bus at 6 am, rushed straight to the crime scene.
Around the same time, Puttur DySp Bhaskar Rai and Puttur ASP-designate Ryshyanth also reached the spot. The canine squad from Mangaluru arrived by 8-45 am. The sniffer dog went around the house and came to the main road and stopped. Hence it is suspected that the gang arrived in a vehicle and left in it after the robbery.
By noon, additional superintendent of police Vincent Shantakumar and SP Dr Sharanappa also joined the investigations. Puttur Sampya rural SI Ravi, Uppinangady SI Anil Kulkarni, DCIB inspector Amanullah and many other police officials joined others, who all held a meeting with Dr Sharanappa to chart the future course of action.
The SP expressed unhappiness that CCTVs had not been installed in vital points in the area between Vivekananda circle towards Kurunji Bagh and Chennakeshava temple. The police have browsed the CCTV footage from the cameras installed elsewhere in town looking for possible clues of the culprits escaping. One of the three teams is said to have proceeded to Mysuru.
There was a bit of irony in the episode. Recently, considering the safety aspects, Ramachandra had decided to move his place of stay to town area. Hence a floor above his showroom in front of Shri Chennakeshava temple was being raised to make way for a home for the family.
Besides, the next day they were to travel to Bengaluru, where their son is employed, to attend the grandchild’s birthday celebration. A day before, this sad incident took place.
Sullia: Businessman and Wife Bound at Kantamangala Home and Robbed of Gold and Cash