The “Pensioners City” known for peace and tranquillity was rocked by an early morning burglary in a prime residential and commercial area. A gang of unidentified persons gained entry into a house and ransacked it on Friday.
Two elderly women, who were fast asleep in their house on Vontikoppal 6th Main, were tied and their mouth gagged by the gang members, who looted their valuables.
The victims Vimala and Anusuya – both in their late 60s – were alone in their house, as their other family members, including their children had gone out of town. Vimala’s son Sridhar, who is a commercial tax employee in Belagavi, and his wife were on an expedition to Ladakh. They have been informed of the developments.
The miscreants, whose numbers are not known, gained entry through the backdoor by kicking open the wooden door after unlatching the bolt of the iron gate. The burglary is suspected to have taken place in the early hours of Friday and the gang members took away the gold jewellery worn by the victims. They also ransacked the entire house, searching for cash and other valuables and left without leaving the two women shell-shocked. About 480 gm of gold jewellery has been looted from the house.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rudramuni told The Hindu that Anusuya and Vimala claim that they were unaware of what transpired and realised that they were gagged and tied up when they woke up at 4 a.m. “We suspect the incident to have taken place after 2 a.m. because one of them had woken up at that time to use the toilet and went back to sleep,” he said.
The victims woke up their neighbours around 4 a.m. to inform them of the developments. The neighbours informed the police. In view of their advanced age and the trauma they underwent, the police rushed the two senior citizens to a hospital for a medical examination.
Mr. Rudramuni said a special squad has been constituted to crack the crime. This is the second such burglary in the city within a span of 24 hours as a similar case was reported on Thursday from Bannimantap area when the victims realized that the house was looted only after they woke up.
Sniffer dogs and finger print experts also visited the spot and Vontikoppal police has registered a case.
