The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Police bust robbery network; rescue two minor girls

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Wednesday, Oct 29, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Police bust robbery network; rescue two minor girls

Staff Reporter

Six persons have been arrested in connection with the case

The women gang members would call victims
to isolated places in the city to rob them
Police claim accused had planned to push the young girls into prostitution

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

out of danger: Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari with the rescued children at the his office in Bangalore on Tuesday.

BANGALORE: The city police claimed to have busted a racket that habitually robbed the well-heeled, after laying traps using women as bait, and arrested six persons in connection with the racket. While cracking the case, two minor girls, who were allegedly kidnapped by the gang members from West Bengal, were rescued by the police. The police said Deenu (14) and Thumba (16), both residents of Kasnapur village, near Kolkata, were kidnapped by the gang members on October 25, 2008. They were rescued and three of the gang members were arrested on their arrival from Kolkata at Yeshwanthpur Railway Station on Sunday.

Police gave the names of the accused as Suhail Abdul Kaleel (24), Firoz Fakruddin (22) and Sadique Chand (22), all residents of Devrajeevanahalli; Mohammad Nayaz Basha Sab (44) and his wife Nafisa Banu, residents of Thirumenahalli, and Parvathi alias Pinki Panchanan (21), native of Kasnapur. The search is on for Tanveer Noor (22), residing near Russel Market.

Police Commissioner Shankar M. Bidari told presspersons here on Tuesday that the accused gang used to engage in “erotic chat” over mobile phones with their targets, by using Pinki as the bait.

He said several software engineers and realtors were robbed of their valuables, and cases were registered from areas around Yelahanka and the Bengaluru International Airport for the last one week. The girls in the gang would call the victims to isolated places in the majority of the cases, Mr. Bidari said.

After collecting the mobile phone numbers of the victims, Pinki would call them frequently and finally strike the deal. When victims reached the isolated place to meet Pinki, gang members would rob them, he said. Sampigehalli Assistant Commissioner of Police Ramachandrappa and Sampigehalli Inspector Ratnakara Shetty, were instrumental in nabbing the accused, Mr. Bidari added.

Rescued girls

The rescued girls come from poor backgrounds and police claim the accused had planned to push them into the flesh trade. “We do not know the men. Three days ago, three uncles came to our village near Kolkata. Our parents are very poor. When we were playing with our friends near our house, the uncles called out to us. They promised us good food, money, clothes and to take us to the movies. So we went with them,” the girls told The Hindu.

The girls do not know any other language other than Bengali. The police recorded their statements with the help of a few Bengalis residing in Bangalore.

“Our targets were pleasure-seeking rich people, software engineers and real estate dealers. We instructed Pinki to make frequent calls to the targets. Several people had expressed their desire to date Pinki,” Suhail and Sadique said. Those robbed included Santosh, Devanahalli taluk Youth Congress President; Rudresh, Bharatiya Janata Party leader in Shivajinagar, and Hariharan, a senior manager with Reliance Group, police said.

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