Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (MS)
Bengaluru, Sep 3: The police here said that a woman, managing a chit fund took the help of 10 professional robbers and conducted robberies at the house of her own sister, a neighbour and a home alone elderly lady.
The gang of 11 carried out the theft in all the three houses in August alone. It is suspected that they might have got involved in many other robberies also.
The mastermind of these robberies, Girijamma (47), a divorcee living with her son in Old Bank Colony at Konanakunte on the outskirts of the city was running a chit fund for her livelihood. She faced difficulties, when she lost Rs 10 lac in business and had to pay the amount from her own personal money.
Distraught with no other way, Girijamma came in contact with Stephan Raju (25), a man with criminal past. He was out on bail from the prison recently. He was in the prison on accusation of theft and had built a strong gang in the jail itself.
Girijamma asked Stephan to conduct robberies and she would target the houses for him. Accordingly, Girijamma started to make rounds to the houses of her relatives, friends and neighbours. She tipped Raju whenever she came across money or gold in a certain house. Then Stephan with his gang of henchmen would enter the said house forcefully beat the inmates and robbed the valuables. The gain from the loot would be distributed equally among all the members of the gang. This information was shared by Dharmendra T M, inspector of Konanakunte police station.
Girijamma's neighbour Prabhavati was robbed on August 22. Girijamma had informed Stephan that there were only two people inside the house of Prabhavati at a certain time as Girijamma was tracking the house. Stephan and the other members of the gang entered the house at once and tied both the inmates and took 289 grams of gold from the house and made good their escape in auto rickshaws.
The CCTV footage and call record helped the Konanakunte police, who were investigating the case to apprehend Girijamma. When she was subjected to intense interrogation, Girijamma gave all the details. She also confessed with the police that she had given tips to the gang to conduct robbery in the house of her sister and a home alone elderly woman living in Kadugodi.
The police are suspecting that the gang might be involved in more robberies and the investigation is on.
Apart from Girijamma, the other members of the gang, who have been arrested are Raju (51), Raghuvaran (30), Suresh (36), Lingaraju (34), Manikantan (25), Sathish (20), Rajesh (21), Abdul Samad (29) and Satish Kumar (24).