Four-man inter-state gang busted by Madiwala police

BENGALURU: Four inter-state thieves, including a contract killer, who were emptying locked houses to lead luxurious lives, have been nabbed by the Madiwala police.

The arrested are Harish (32) from Madanapalle in Andhra Pradesh, Shankar Ram (21) from Thiruvalangadu in Tamil Nadu, Sohail (22) from Udayendiram in Tamil Nadu and Azgar (21) from Kottayam in Kerala. The police have recovered 620 gm of gold jewellery and 4 kg of silver ornaments worth '20 lakh from them.

The gang burgled locked houses and kept shifting from one place to another. The gang was always on the move and never rented a place to stay in the city so as to avoid leaving clues about their whereabouts to the police.

The police were able to crack several cases of burglary involving this inter-state gang after they saw the gang members in the CCTV footage. All four members of the gang were habitual offenders with a long list of crime against their names.

The prime accused, Harish, started his criminal career when he was 12 years old and was lodged in a state home. After he was released from the state home, his parents threw him out of the house. He then took to stealing for survival and became a habitual offender. He started to be recognised as a contract killer in 2016 after he murdered a man after taking a supari from a woman for Rs 50 lakh.

While in jail, he formed a gang and committed more than 10 burglaries in Bengaluru after coming out on bail.

Another accused Shankar Ram was involved in three cases in Tamil Nadu and five cases in Bengaluru. In 2016, he murdered a 60-year-old woman in an attempt to rob her. In the same year, he had snatched a gun from a security guard at INS Rajali naval campus, Tamil Nadu and fired at him before fleeing?.?

With his arrest, the city police have claimed to solve three cases reported in Madiwala and HSR Layout police stations.

Accused met in jail

All the four accused met in a jail and formed the gang. Harish, the gang leader, took the other three into confidence and shared his plan to commit burglaries. He also offered to  share the booty equally among them.

After the burglary, Harish sold the stolen goods at throwaway prices at jewellery shops in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Haish had rented a house for his girlfriend in Andhra Pradesh and ensured her comfort and luxury. He regularly sent her money after selling off the booty. All the accused have been sent to judicial custody.