The Central Crime Branch and the Mangaluru Rural Police have arrested eight accused involved in murder, dacoity, assault and extortion cases registered in the city, Udupi and Bengaluru police limits.
Police Commissioner N. Shashi Kumar gave the names of the accused as Tauseer (29) of Marnamikatte, Tasleem (27) of Farangipet, Mohammed Jainuddin (24) of Bantwal, Mohammed Arafat (29) of Farangipet, Nasir Hussain (29), Mohammed Rafiq (37), Unnaiz (26) and Mohammed Safan (25), all four from Bantwal.
Mr. Kumar told reporters here on Monday that these accused were members of a gang run by Tauseer and Bathish, who is now in Saudi Arabia. This was called the TB (Tauseer Bathish) Gang. They were mainly involved in extortion and money recovery cases. They were also accused in murder, attempt to murder and cattle theft cases.
On Sunday, they returned from Bengaluru after failing to confront Ziyad, a resident of the BC Road and now working in Bengaluru, who had failed to return ₹12 lakh taken from Safan. The accused parked their car near Parari of Uaibettu and planned to rob people of their valuables on the Mangaluru-Moodbidri stretch of the National Highway. The CCB and the Mangaluru Rural Police received a tip-off and arrested them. Two machetes, three sharp weapons, eight mobile phones, five monkey caps and three packets of chilli powder were recovered from their vehicle, Mr. Kumar said.
Among the cases that the accused were involved included an assault on Naushad (30) as he came out of a hospital in Falnir where his father-in-law had been admitted in November 2020. This was as per Bathish’s instructions, Mr. Kumar said.
The arrested persons had, after a failed dacoity attempt at a house in Dhamasthala last year, killed a pet dog at the house when it started barking. The accused were involved in the murder of Jiya and Fayaz in Bantwal Rural Police limits in 2017. “We have launched a search for more persons, including the one who acted as a middleman in money recovery cases,” Mr. Kumar said.
Tauseer was accused in six criminal cases, while Tasleem was accused in 12 criminal cases. Mohammed Jainuddin was involved in nine criminal cases, Arafat was involved in three criminal cases and Nasir and Rafiq were involved in one case each respectively. “Interrogation has brought to light their involvement in a few new cases of assault,” Mr .Kumar added.
