Two constables attached to Kadugodi police station were part of a nine-member gang that allegedly took 240 gm of gold from an unauthorised jewellery store under the guise of a police raid. While one of the constables and seven members of the gang were arrested, the second constable, Choude Gowda, is on the run, said the police on Sunday.
According to the Halasuru Gate police, the prime accused in the case are Jeethu Adak and his son Sooraj, jewellers from West Bengal who own a building in Nagrathpet where they ran a jewellery store.
“The had rented out a part of the premises to another jeweller Karthik, who was operating without a licence. Karthik’s store had recently started seeing brisk business and was doing better than the one run by Jeethu and Sooraj,” said a police officer.
The father and son decided to rob Karthik, assuming that he would not approach the police as he did not have a licence and was running his business illegally. Jeethu approached his friend Nadeen Pasha who roped in constables Ashok and Choude Gowda. “Nadeen offered them a share if they helped raid the shop,” the police officer added.
The duo agreed. On November 11, seven people disguised as policemen, along with the two constables, raided Karthik’s jewelry store. They were led by Nadeem. They took 240 grams of gold. Jeethu and Sooraj arrived at the scene and pretended to help Karthik in view of the ‘police raid’.
The victim did not approach the police at first as he did not have the required licence, but followed up with them on November 13, only to learn that the raid was fake. Based on his complaint, the police verified CCTV footage and identified the registration number of the car that the gang had used.
The police traced the car and zeroed in on Mohammed Sheikh from Annasandrapalya, who was part of the gang. Based on information that he gave, the police arrested the others, including Ashok.
The police recovered the 240 gram of gold, which the accused had sold for ₹9 lakh.
“Efforts are on track down the absconding constable,” said the police.
