A final year BSc. biotech student, who spent the better part of his college life raiding and robbing illegal gambling dens to raise money for his tuition fees, was arrested on Saturday by the Bagaluru police. He had led a gang of 10 friends, eight of whom have been arrested.
According to the police, 20-year-old Sindhanuru Raja Srinivasa Rao — who lived in a room in Sri Nagar and studied in a private college — had spent all his money at the start of the year. He then decided to turn to a life of crime to raise money for his college fees. With the help of his roomate Manju he gathered ‘like-minded’ people and formed a gang that focussed on illegal gambling dens operating on the outskirts of the city. “They targeted illegal operations with the knowledge that no police complaint would be filed against them,” said the police, who suspect that he was involved in a series of “raids”.
On August 27, the gang entered a gambling den to find that there were 50 people inside. On realising that they were outnumbered, they turned back home but stopped at a newly-opened wine store in Bagaluru where they assaulted the manager and ransacked the premises before fleeing with ₹12,000 in cash. “However, this store had a permit and a security system in place,” the police said.
When the owner approached the police with CCTV footage, investigators identified one of the gang members who had cases pending cases against him. When the accused Nagaraju was picked up for questioning, he led the cops to Rao. Two members of the gang are on the run.
