A week after a Bengaluru resident was robbed of Rs 1.4 lakh by a gang who barged into his house, the Vidyaranyapura police Sunday announced the arrests of four men in the case, including a person who posed as a Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) during the incident.
The arrested men have been identified as Mallikarjuna H, 27, Pramod V, 30, Vinay H T, 36, and Hruthvik P, 24. The police also recovered Rs 45,000, a car worth Rs 6 lakh, and a two-wheeler from Mallikarjuna.
Officers said that on December 7, Mallikarjuna barged into the house of elevator technician Naveen K A around 11.30 pm, claiming that he was from the Central Crime Branch (CCB). He was wearing a police uniform and was accompanied by the others who were in civilian clothes and claimed to be from the ‘special unit’.
“Mallikarjuna and the others made Naveen sit in a corner as they ‘raided’ the house. They also accused him of drug peddling. Mallikarjuna assaulted Naveen and robbed Rs 53,000 kept in the house, besides taking Rs 2,000 from his wallet. They then forced Naveen to transfer Rs 87,000 from his bank account to Pramod via net banking. They threatened him against reporting the matter to other police officers or the Lokayukta,” an officer said.
However, Naveen later filed a police complaint. The probe revealed that Mallikarjuna had appeared twice for the PSI examination, but failed to clear it. However, he badly wanted to be a police officer and hence bought the uniform from a tailoring shop, officers said, adding that he had also done several photo and video shoots while wearing it.
The investigation has indicated that the gang usually robbed people sitting in parks or isolated areas. Asked why Naveen was targeted, an officer said, “Naveen and Hruthvik were friends and worked in the same company. Later, they developed a personal enmity. Hruthvik came up with the idea to rob him.”
“We suspect the gang was involved in similar robberies in other parts of Bengaluru. We request people to come forward and file complaints, if any,” a police officer said. Further investigation is underway in the case.