Almost a year after a 27-year-old engineer from Bantwal was attacked by two men while he was on his way to the railway station, the Cottonpet police have arrested two habitual offenders.
The accused, Nagaraj, 30, and Suresh, 32, confronted the victim, Sudhakar Umaraj, in an autorickshaw on Cottonpet main road near the railway station and snatched his bag.
“Sudhakar tried to stop them and followed them in an autorickshaw. He confronted them in an isolated location behind the station and begged them to return his bag. The duo, however, overpowered him and assaulted him. They threatened to kill him before making off with his mobile phone, ₹1,000 in cash, and his debit card,” said a police officer. They allegedly also forced him to reveal his debit card PIN.
In his complaint, Sudharkar said the accused threatened to douse him in petrol and set him on fire. The duo fled after getting the PIN, and later withdrew ₹20,000. With the help of passersby, Sudhakar went to his relatives house in Kengeri Satellite Town to recover and returned to his home town.
After reaching Bantwal, Sudhakar filed a complaint at the local police station and the case was transferred to Cottonpet police. Based on the complaint, the police analysed CCTV camera footage and identified the accused. On Sunday, they tracked down Nagaraj and Suresh and recovered valuables worth ₹3.14 lakh, a motorcycle, and the autorickshaw they had used to commit the crime.
