Mysuru police arrest four accused and recover stolen valuables worth Rs 4.5 million

Seema Latkar (second from left), Commissioner of Police of Mysuru city, holds a press conference in Mysuru on Monday. | Photo: MA Sriram

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Mysuru city police has arrested four persons on suspicion of 11 cases of housebreaking (HBT) in different parts of Mysuru and Mandya districts. Valuables, including gold ornaments and pistols, totalling Rs 4.5 crore were seized.

Briefing reporters in Mysuru on Monday, city police commissioner Seema Latkar said the CCB had constituted a special team to investigate the theft of valuables worth Rs 114,000 that occurred on June 6 this year from the Metagalli police station premises.

After nabbing one of the accused in the case on July 16 on Shivaji Road in NR Mohalla, the CCB managed to arrest three more of his accomplices on August 21 based on the information provided by him.

During interrogation, the police came to know that the accused were not only involved in the theft on the Metagalli police station premises, but in a total of 11 such cases in Mysuru and other districts.

The valuables worth Rs 4.5 million they recovered included gold ornaments weighing about 551 grams, 1.4 kg silver items, two cars, three two-wheelers, a pistol with live ammunition and two mobile phones. The police also recovered an iron rod, a screwdriver and two pairs of gloves used in committing the crimes.

The arrests have helped the police solve five cases in Mysuru city and one each in Mysuru and Mandya districts. There were also cases of extortion and car theft in Mysuru city and Mysuru, Mandya and Bengaluru districts.

Ms Seema Latkar said one of the accused was a suspected ganja dealer and the police also seized 4 kg and 66 grams of ganja from him, along with a pistol and a car.

Police said the four accused, all related to each other and hailing from Mysuru, were serial offenders. While the main accused had a total of 36 cases pending against him in different parts of Karnataka, including 21 cases of chain snatching, the second accused was involved in 17 cases and the third and fourth accused in 18 and three cases respectively.

Charges have been filed against them in different police stations in Shivamogga, Dakshina Kannada, Hassan, Chamarajanagar and Tumkur. The accused was released from Mysuru jail only in April this year, Ms Latkar said.