Dacoits struck at a real estate businessman's house at Thumkunta village under the Shamirpet police station limits on Saturday night and made away with nine tolas gold ornaments after attacking him. The businessman suffered head injuries in the dacoity.
Fifty-year-old Narayana Raju, hailing from Puttaparthi in Anantapur district, lives in a spacious house on the outskirts of Thumkunta village. As he is from Puttaparti, many felt that the family might have got huge cash from Prashanthi Nilayam after the death of Satya Sai Baba.
On Saturday midnight, dacoits repeatedly knocked the door on the pretext of seeking drinking water. Soon after opening the main door, they entered the house and attacked Raju with a stick and later sprinkled chilli powder in his eyes. They demanded money and searched the house but they could not find anything.
The intruders speaking in Telugu made away with a gold chain and necklace from Raju's daughter. Police said dacoits were polite with other family members. Before leaving the house, offenders kept ice cubes on Raju's head as he was bleeding profusely.
A hunt is on to trace the dacoits.
