Mysuru: In an incident of highway robbery, five pilgrims travelling in a Toyota Innova car were attacked by a group of ten thieves on the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway on Tuesday, July 12. The thieves escaped with the valuables along the car, which was later found abandoned.

The robbery reportedly took place near Siddalingapur on the outskirts of Mysuru city at around 2 am on Tuesday. Initially, a truck blocked the movement of the Innova car on the highway. Soon after, a group of ten men came in two cars and attacked the pilgrims in the Innova car after breaking its glass. They snatched all their valuables including cash, baggage and mobile phones leaving four of them midway. The robbers then drove the Innova car with one man sleeping at the rear. They assaulted him midway and left him stranded after snatching his personal valuables.

The youth were reportedly on their way to Calicut from Bengaluru. They alighted from a Mecca flight at Bengaluru airport at 7.30 pm on the evening of July 11 and had their dinner before heading towards Calicut.

The gang of robbers escaped in their own cars and the Innova car was later found abandoned on Madikeri road.

The four pilgrims were found at Metagalli police station where as the one man who was assaulted was found at Hunsur police station. Varied statements from the pilgrims have put the police in quandary as they are not able to link the sequence of events when the last reports came in.