Resident’s presence of mind helps police bust gang of seven dacoits in Bengaluru

After viewing the CCTV live feed, the house owner find thieves hiding in various rooms. He quickly locks them up in the rooms, and alerts neighbour, who in turn, calls up police control room

The presence of mind shown by a resident not only saved him from seven dacoits, who had broken into his house, but also led to their arrest.

In the wee hours of January 11, Rahul Balagopal, a businessman and resident of Narayanapura on Kanakapura Road, woke up around 5 a.m., and went to the kitchen to make himself coffee. After noticing that the contents of the fridge had been ransacked, he grew suspicious, and went to the bedroom, from where he saw the live CCTV feed. That is when he spotted five men with lethal weapons hiding in various rooms.

CCTV footage

He and his two children, seeing the live CCTV feed on their phones, distracted the gang members and successfully locked them up in different rooms. Later, they locked themselves up in the bedroom from where he called his father and a security guard from the neighbouring building, who in turn alerted the police control room 112.

A Hoysala vehicle reached the house within 10 minutes. The police broke open the door and apprehended the five dacoits, saving the residents from being attacked. Their interrogation revealed that there were two others who were on the terrace watching out for any sign of danger.

As the police went to the terrace, they had fled by then. Acting on leads given by those apprehended in the house, police tracked down the two absconding members of the gang to Anekal and arrested them within nine hours.

Palatial house targeted

The arrested are: Mohammed Ninaz, 21, from Bihar; Mohammed Imran Sheikh, 24, from Uttar Pradesh; Mohammed Faizal, 23; Ram Bilas, 27 from Rajasthan; Sunil Dange, 20, from Madhya Pradesh; Rajat Mallik, 21, from Odisha; and the kingpin of the gang Sheikh Kaleem, 22 from Bengaluru.

Members of the gang were all working in hotels and bars in a single neighbourhood in Mumbai where they befriended one another. Sheikh Kaleem, the only member from Bengaluru, also worked at various bars in Mumbai until a year ago. He invited others in the gang promising them big returns.

They targeted palatial houses on the outskirts of the city. While two men stood on the terrace of the house, others entered the house either from the terrace or through the backdoor. Police are now finding out if they were involved in other dacoities in the city or elsewhere.