Bengaluru: The city central division police have successfully apprehended a group of cunning thieves who had been executing a well-orchestrated scheme to steal sarees worth lakhs of rupees. The gang, disguised as enthusiastic wedding shoppers, managed to dupe several cloth stores before their misdeeds caught up with them.
The accused identified as Bharat, Sunita, Shivaram Prasad, Venkatesh, Rani, and Shivakumar hailing from Andhra Pradesh, were brought into custody following their calculated spree of theft. The accused, collectively visiting textile shops ‘ by their crafty tactics, with their elaborate ruse.
Their method involved visiting cloth stores as a customers, with the perfect alibi of purchasing sarees for an upcoming wedding. Dressed in a facade of genuine interest, they would browse through the luxurious and expensive saree collections, all the while claiming that they were in search of the perfect attire for their family’s big day. Police told that the gang would handle around fifty to sixty sarees at a time, distracting the vigilant shopkeepers with their charismatic conversation and feigned excitement. In this crucial moment, they would discreetly pilfer a couple of sarees and ingeniously conceal them within their clothing. Their audacious feat reached its zenith as they managed to stash away their loot in their undergarments.
The true extent of their audacity was unraveled when the gang would abruptly shift gears, dismissing the selected sarees with the deceptive explanation that the garments didn’t meet their budget constraints. This final act of deception provided them the perfect cover to exit the stores, leaving behind baffled and unsuspecting shopkeepers.
However, their spree was halted when an astute shop owner finally noticed the cunning maneuvers of these ‘ thieves. Equipped with irrefutable evidence captured on the store’s CCTV cameras, the shop owner lodged a complaint with the Highgrounds police station. A joint task force comprising personnel from the Highgrounds and Ashokanagar police stations was swiftly formed to bring the culprits to justice.
Central Division Deputy Commissioner of Police, S. Srinivas Gowda, affirmed the successful resolution of the case, citing the instrumental role of the captured CCTV footage in cracking the case. Seven individuals were apprehended based on the incriminating visual evidence, and a staggering collection of sarees, estimated to be worth around ten lakh rupees, was seized. Police suspect that the gang involved in similar thefts in neighboring states also. Highgrounds police registered a case and investigation is on.
