Forest officer among 10 arrested for dacoity at Bengaluru businessman’s residence

On December 4, the businessman, Rupesh M, 31, and his family members – including his mother – were reportedly attacked by the gang at their HMT Layout residence in north Bengaluru. The businessman told the police that a person dressed as a police officer rang the doorbell of their home at around 7.30 pm.

The businessman opened the door to his residence assuming that a police officer was at his doorstep. The man dressed as a police officer entered the house with an associate and claimed that he wanted information from the businessman.

When the businessman was speaking to the person who claimed to be a police officer, four to five men were seen lurking outside the main door of the house by the mother of the industrialist. When she raised her voice and sought their identity, the men barged into the house brandishing swords and attacked the businessman and his mother.

The gang tied up the family and ransacked the house and looted Rs 60 lakh in cash, 500 gram of gold, and also took away the CCTV recorder inside the house and mobile phones of the victims, the industrialist reported to the Peenya police station on the night of December 4.

The police collected CCTV footage from neighbouring residences and obtained portraits of the suspects using technology to enhance the images. They also tracked active mobile phones in the area through tower dump data.

The police investigation found that the person who approached the house by posing as a police officer was a deputy range forest officer deployed in the Channagiri range in Chikmagalur district. He was identified as deputy ranger Surendra K, 40.

The others in the gang were identified as Nawaz Pasha, 27, a rowdy sheeter from the K G Halli region in east Bengaluru, and Sheikh Kalandar, 27, a rowdy sheeter from Hennur police limits.

The police probe found that the idea for targeting the residence of the industrialist was given by cab driver D Nagaraj, 33, who was employed with the company of the businessman in 2022 as a lorry driver and money collector.

The others arrested for the dacoity are fruit merchant R S Shridhar, 27, financier Vasanth Kumar, 41, Suresh A, 33, Rahil Khan, 26, Usman Khan, 24, and Anil Kumar, 34.

“We have recovered Rs 45 lakh worth of stolen property including Rs 23.37 lakh in cash and 273 gram of gold,” the Bengaluru north police said in a statement on Friday. Two suspects in the case are still absconding, the police said.