The Bajpe Police on Wednesday apprehended a gang of six persons, including four women, on the charge of robbing women devotees at temples and recovered valuables worth ₹7 lakh from them.
Police Commissioner N. Shashi Kumar told reporters here on Saturday that acting on a complaint of a handbag robbery at Kateel Sri Durga Parameshwari Temple on Tuesday, the Bajpe police flagged a multi-utility vehicle at Addoor check-post on Wednesday and got hold of the accused.
The police gave the names of the accused as, Yamunavva Muttavva Chalavadi, 55, Prakash Chennappa Holeya Menasiga, 26, Shobha Muttugara, 40, Kumaramma Maruthi Muttugara, 45, Shanthamma Metagar, 55, and Chandrashekhar Shivaraddappa Karamudi, 49, all residents of Gadag district.
The complainant, Yashoda Gowda, told the police that four women and a young man surrounded her while she was giving an offering at the temple while the youth snatched her handbag and ran away. Her family members followed them and noted down the vehicle number before complaining to the police. On Wednesday, the Bajpe police got information that the accused were moving in the same vehicle towards another temple town, Polali. They put up barricades and flagged the vehicle at Addur.
Upon investigation, the accused revealed that they had snatched handbags from women at different temples across India. They had robbed ₹74,000 in cash and seven mobile phones in all, Mr. Kumar said.
The police recovered seven mobile phone handsets worth ₹75,000, ₹21,540 in cash, and the vehicle used to commit the offence. The Commissioner congratulated the team for cracking the case.
