Sunil Bangera
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)
Mangalore, Jul 4: In a late night operation, a gang of five entered a house located on the main road of Kinnigoli in the district on Thursday July 3. They killed the dog that was guarding the house, before entering the home and gagging and tying the hands and legs of three occupants of the house. The gang also ransacked the house in an attempt to rob valuables. The incident came to light at daybreak on Friday July 4.
The robbers targetted a house bearing the name, 'Love Paradise' located by the side of Rotary Bhavan that is under construction near Bhattakody on main road at Kinnigoli. An old lady living in the house named Stephania D'Souza, and her neighbours, Jacintha Noronha and Jacinha's son, Claude Noronha, both of whom used to stay with the lady during the nights, suffered at the hands of the intruders. All of them were treated at a hospital.
The house in question is owned by Ronald D'Souza, who works in a foreign country. Ronald's grandmother, Stephania (95), happens to be a retired teacher. She lives alone at this house, Jacintha and Claude used to come to this house to give company to the old lady during the nights.
At around 1.30 am on Friday, a gang comprising five members suddenly entered the house from the rear entrance. The gang tied up all the three occupants of the house with the help of saris. Besides tying up their limbs, the gang stuffed clothes into their mouths, before sifting through the cupboards and almirahs in the house. Stephania said the robbers behaved with her rudely, by assaulting her in an attempt to extract information about gold and cash they thought had been stored at some secret place inside the house.
The men reportedly told the lady that they knew about the presence of over a hundred sovereigns of gold ornaments and Rs 40 lac in the form of currency notes in this house. As the robbers pulled and pushed the lady, her hands were injured. The robbers, who searched the purse of Stephania, took away a thousand rupees found in it. But somehow they failed to notice that a gold chain also was present inside the purse, the lady said.
The robbers had fed some poisonous food to the dog of the house, and after it died, tossed its carcass into the under-construction building nearby. They tied a white cloth around a closed circuit TV camera located in the front, and changed the direction of the backside CCTV camera, before entering the house. Those who were at the receiving end of this robbery attempt said that all the robbers were aged between 35 and 40 years, and that two of them spoke in Hindi, with two others conversing in Tulu, with the other one speaking in Kannada. The robbers continued their search from 1.30 am to 5 am, and exited from the house at 5 am after snatching away a gold chain found in the neck of the youth.
Stephania said that the robber who was speaking in Kannada offered her a hundred rupees out of a thousand rupees they had snatched from her purse, to get her injured hand treated. Before leaving, they released the three persons and offered water to them, it is gathered.
Mulky police visited the spot and began investigation. The sniffer dogs, after walking around the house, moved till the compound wall. A team of finger print experts also conducted verification. A person named Ganesh Padmanoor, who used to look after the affairs of the house, filed a complaint about this robbery attempt in Mulky police station. Stephania was discharged after being treated at Concetta Hospital Kinnigoli.
City commissioner, R Hitendra, deputy commissioner of police, Vishnuvardhan, assistant commissioner of police, Ravi Kumar, and inspector Ramachandra Nayak, visited the spot.