Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)
Mangalore, Jun 25: Unknown thieves, in a well-planned and executed operation, succeeded in stealing cash and ornaments worth about Rs 30 lac from a house located in Subhashitnagar, Agarmel near Krishnapura, Suratkal near here. The theft occurred presumably on the night of Monday June 23.
The house in question belongs to Venugopal Shetty, former officer of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. The family was on vacation visit to Mumbai, when the theft occurred. The maid engaged to keep the surroundings clean noticed nothing abnormal during her morning visit on Monday morning, but on Tuesday morning, she saw that the door of the house had been broken open.
After this matter was conveyed to Shetty in Mumbai, his brother visited Suratkal police station and filed a formal complaint. On Tuesday evening, the house owners arrived from Mumbai and provided an exhaustive list of missing items to the policemen. It is learnt that the family had been to Mumbai as Shetty's daughter, Adhwika, had been chosen for the final selection round in the Dance India Dance reality show of Zee TV. Venugopal's wife had left for Mumbai two weeks earlier to be present at the initial rounds of the competition, and Shetty left on June 20, after getting information about his daughter having been selected for the final round.
Sniffer dogs and finger print experts visited the spot. Assistant commissioner of police, Ravikumar, and Suratkal station house officer, M A Nataraj, who inspected the scene of crime, expressed the resolve to crack the case as soon as possible. MP, Nalin Kumar Kateel, and MLA, B A Mohiuddin Bava, also impressed upon the policemen to work diligently to ensure that the thieves are caught at the earliest.
It is observed that the thieves stole things in a leisurely and methodical manner. They entered the house by breaking open the lock of the kitchen door, before visiting every room, sifting through contents of various cupboards, collecting a number of silver items from there, and opening the locker beneath the puja stand with the key they had accessed from the almirah inside the master bedroom. They left behind a few fancy items and a silver lamp.
The scene at the bedroom of Shetty's daughter appears as if the thieves had poured all the loot there and verified every ornament for its genuineness, before taking away only the genuine ones. Although the thieves took care not to leave behind any clues, the policemen claimed they had gained access to certain thins which they hope will help them nab the culprits.